What is the ruling on the Friday bath for a woman?

The questioner : Let us finish this. How many of the young ones? Is the Friday bath for a woman obligatory in the same way that the Friday bath is obligatory for a man?

The Shaykh : The mention of the woman appears in some hadiths alongside the man’s bath, but this is not valid from a hadith perspective. However, there is a wide scope for the application of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad). If a woman intends to attend the congregational prayer, and naturally in the women’s congregation, it can be said that she must also take a bath. This is because the bath commanded of the men is among the rulings we say are rational in meaning, not a pure act of worship whose reason we do not know.

The questioner : As for ... add another bath to your bath, the Friday bath. It is rational in meaning, so attach it to the first bath.

The Shaykh : No, no. You should memorize this question after we finish the answer, so that you know the answer to this question. We are talking about the Friday bath, not the bath for major ritual impurity (janabah). We say that the prayer is not valid for one who is in a state of major ritual impurity unless he takes a bath, and the prayer is not valid for one who is in a state of minor ritual impurity and has not performed the ablution (wudu'). Why? We do not know. But the Friday bath, why? We know. So when what we know is combined with what we do not know, do not let what we do not know make what we know into what we do not know.

The questioner : It covers ...
Al-Halabi : We say in it that we do not know ...

The questioner : If what we do not know covers what we know practically ... in addition to what we know?

The Shaykh : No, no. Why? Yes, this philosophy, or I do not say that I preceded you in philosophy. Yes, this is consistent with what would be the case if we said that the Friday bath is a recommended practice (sunnah) or a recommended act. In that case, that would suffice for this. But if we say according to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) then we return to the scientific legal principle: "An obligatory act does not suffice for another obligatory act." The important point is that the Friday bath is a gradual process in which the Wise Lawgiver guided His community to accept this ruling, which, if it had been imposed on them initially, they might have found burdensome. It came in some authentic hadiths that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were people of work, so they would work on Friday and then come to the mosque. The time and the weather there, as you know, is hot, so a smell that is not pleasant, a bad smell like the smell of sheep from their work, would be noticed from them. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) first said Look at the legal expression It does not contain a command, it contains an exhortation. And this exhortation is a preparation to accept the next ruling, which is So if one comes to the Friday prayer, let him take a bath. This general text suffices us at that time for the weak narration in which the woman was associated with the man. So we say that if the woman loves to pray Friday in the mosque, and that is not obligatory upon her as is well known, but she must attend while she is clean so that people do not be disgusted. Just as it is not befitting for men to be disgusted by the smells or what are the smells of men, so too for women. Then the general text in this area comes, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) .

The questioner : If she wants to pray, does the Friday bath become obligatory for her?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.