Does a woman raise her voice in saying "Ameen"? Does she cover her feet? Does she call the adhan and iqamah? And if she goes out of her house wearing a hijab, is it permissible for her to wear makeup?

The questioner : There is a question that concerns women, since women are present here, O Shaykh, may Allah reward you. Does a woman raise her voice in saying "Ameen"? Does a woman establish the prayer like a man? Does a woman call the adhan and iqamah? And does she cover her feet in prayer? Does a woman raise her voice in saying "Ameen"? Does she establish the prayer as a man does, or call the adhan or iqamah? And does she cover her feet in prayer? Yes, and is it permissible for her to go out wearing makeup, even if she is wearing a hijab? Is it permissible for her to go out wearing makeup?

The Shaykh : This is a very nice question that includes four questions. Perhaps, due to my old age, I can recall them first so that I can answer them second. As for whether a woman raises her voice in saying "Ameen," the matter is detailed. If she is praying with women, then yes. But if she is praying with men, and men who are not her relatives, then no. I do not say that a woman's voice is 'awrah (a part of the body that must be covered), as many people say, because the Mothers of the Believers and the wives of the early Companions used to speak with men and understand what men said. Often, a woman would come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and ask him a question in front of men, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would answer her question. However, it is not the proper conduct of a woman to raise her voice in reciting the Qur'an. We often ask: Is it permissible for a woman, when she is learning to read from a Shaykh who is a reciter, to repeat the recitation to him so that he can correct her? The answer is no. Although she is learning, her learning is limited to listening only, just as the women of the Companions all learned from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by listening to his recitation in prayer or outside of prayer. If a woman is praying with women and is the imam, and women are also created by Allah, she raises her voice. This is based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): That is, every ruling that addresses men also includes women, except for what is explicitly excluded. For example, it is better for a woman, other than in the tarawih prayer, and I hope you pay attention, it is better for her other than in the tarawih prayer, to pray in her house, whereas it is obligatory for a man to pray the five prayers in the mosque in congregation. Here, the woman is different from the man. But the original rule, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So, if a woman leads women in prayer, she does exactly like the male imam. She raises her voice in recitation, she raises her voice in saying "Ameen," and those behind her also raise their voices in saying "Ameen." This is the first point. The second point is that a woman leads women in prayer, and not only that, but she also calls the adhan and iqamah. She calls the adhan and iqamah because of the previous hadith More than that, the Lady Aisha, the Mother of the Believers and the foremost of the Mothers of the Believers in jurisprudence, knowledge, and da'wah (calling others to Islam), may Allah reward her and her father, used to call the adhan and iqamah when she led women in prayer. Here is a point of attention that was not asked about: The woman here is also different from the man. She does not stand in front of the row of women, but rather stands in the middle, as if she is one of the row. She does not stand in front of them. This also has a text regarding it. Therefore, in this case, the woman is not included in the generality of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is the third point, which is: Is it permissible for a woman to pray with her feet bare or uncovered? Because "hasr" in the Arabic language we learned relates to the head. As for the feet, we say: It is not permissible for her to pray with her feet uncovered. In fact, it is not permissible for her to walk in the streets with her feet uncovered. This is because the feet are part of a woman's 'awrah, by the explicit saying of Allah the Exalted: In the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, a woman used to wear what is known in Arabic as a "khal Khal," which is a bracelet with small bells. So when a woman walked, to attract the attention of men and young men to her, she would strike her feet on the ground, and the khal Khal would make a sound, and the men would hear it. This is a whisper of Shaytan to her. And this means that the feet were covered. We were covered by what? By the jilbab (the outer garment) that women were commanded to throw over their heads, in accordance with the saying of Allah the Exalted: