The ruling on a woman going out to the mosque for the tarawih prayer

Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may the blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. And to proceed. My dear brothers, listeners, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and Allah welcomes you to a session that continues with His Eminence Shaykh Dr. Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan, a member of the Committee of Senior Scholars and a member of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta. At the beginning of this session, we welcome you, Honorable Shaykh. Allah welcomes you and blesses you. Honorable Shaykh, prayer has been made obligatory by Allah upon the believers, both men and women. One of the features of this month, the month of fasting, is the prescription of the tarawih prayer and standing in night prayer within it. Women strive to seek reward and recompense by going to the mosques to perform this recommended practice. We would like you to clarify the ruling on a woman going to the mosque.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. And to proceed: Among the noble deeds by which Allah has distinguished this month is the tarawih prayer. It is a recommended practice (sunnah) of the most confirmed recommended practices. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed it with his Companions for nights in the month of Ramadan, then he stopped doing it with them out of fear that it would become obligatory upon them, as he explained to them (peace and blessings be upon him). It is a confirmed recommended practice upon which the practice of the Muslims continued. It is called tarawih because the custom of the Salaf (the earliest generations) was that they would pray, then rest between every four rak'ahs. They would pray four rak'ahs for two taslims, then open. They rest afterwards.
The second taslim, then they stand up and pray four rak'ahs for two taslims, then they rest, and so on. They rest after every two taslims. Therefore, it is called tarawih, derived from the word for rest or the word for comfort. It is performed in the mosques because it is an apparent religious observance, so it is performed in congregation in the mosques, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did with his Companions. May Allah reward you.
And just as the Companions used to do it after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they used to pray it in congregation in the mosques to display this religious observance and to cooperate in righteousness and piety. And whoever prays it in his home, there is nothing wrong with that, especially the woman. For the woman, it is better for her to pray tarawih and other prayers in her home, even the obligatory prayer. A woman’s prayer in her home is better for her, because of the seclusion and protection therein, and because of the kindness shown to her, for she is a weak woman. So a woman’s prayer is better when it is in her home, whether tarawih or other prayers. And if she wants to go out to the mosque for the obligatory prayer with the congregation, or for the tarawih prayer?
Or for the eclipse prayer or other prayers for which congregation is prescribed for her, she is not prevented from doing so. The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and their homes are better for them, and let them go out in a state of disarray, meaning not perfumed, not adorned, and not beautified. So if a woman wants to go out to the mosque for the tarawih prayer or other, or to attend gatherings of dhikr (remembrance of Allah), she is not prevented, but on the condition that she goes out remembering Allah, and that she goes out without adornment, not in her clothes, not in her jewelry, and not on her body. She does not go out with any type of adornment. And she does not go out perfumed in a way that her scent is apparent, for that would cause fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) for her and the attachment of men’s hearts to her, and thus fitnah would occur. She only went out for worship and went out seeking reward. If she goes out in violation of the Shari'ah etiquettes, then she will be sinful rather than rewarded, punished rather than rewarded, so she will return with a loss. And it is not enough that she returns with a loss only, but she returns with sin, and she returns with punishment. So the woman should fear Allah the Exalted and Supreme. She should not go out to boast with her adornment, and she should not go out in order to draw attention to herself, and she should not go out in order to meet so-and-so and so-and-so, and to spend time talking and chattering, or to spend time looking at so-and-so and so-and-so, and who came and who went. Rather, she should lower her gaze, be covered with her clothes, not be beautified, and not be perfumed. And she goes to the mosque and sits for the remembrance of Allah and for prayer with humility, etiquette, modesty, and chastity. The women of the Muhajireen and the Ansar used to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When the verse of hijab (the covering prescribed for women) came down: “O Prophet, say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part of] their outer garments. That is more suitable that they may be known and not be harassed. And Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.” When this verse came down, they hastened and wrapped themselves in their cloaks and covered their heads and faces. So they went out to prayer, and it was as if there were crows on their heads. Meaning, we placed the black khimar (head covering) on their heads until it became as if there were crows on them due to the covering with blackness. So the women of the Muslims today, and always and forever, should fear Allah the Exalted and Supreme, and adhere to hijab, modesty, and chastity, and leave off adornment and leave off perfume when going out absolutely, and when going out for prayer, all the more so. Yes.