Sahih Muslim, 443 a
sahihZainab Thaqafiya reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When any one of you (women) participates in the 'Isha' prayer, she should not perfume herself that night.
حَدَّثَنَا هَارُونُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الأَيْلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي مَخْرَمَةُ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ بُسْرِ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ، أَنَّ زَيْنَبَ الثَّقَفِيَّةَ، كَانَتْ تُحَدِّثُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ قَالَ
إِذَا شَهِدَتْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ الْعِشَاءَ فَلاَ تَطَيَّبْ تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَةَ
.
References2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 4, Hadith 158
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Book 4, Hadith 892 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Islam established ground rules on women's going out to attend congregational prayers in mosques. These rules related to clothes, manners, decency, adornment, and staying away from places of suspicion. Performing righteous acts while sticking to Islamic rules is better than doing these acts while neglecting those rules in spite of one's ability to abide by them. In this hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) instructed Muslim women to abide by Islamic rules when they wanted to attend Isha (evening) prayer in the mosque. He confirmed that a woman was allowed to take care of her cleanliness, but not allowed to wear perfume before going out to prayer. Wearing perfume is a means to evoke men's whims and draw their attention. This prohibition is applied to all prayers and the Prophet (ﷺ) may have referred to Isha prayer for the following reasons: (1) Women may be subject to harassment at night more, or (2) Women used to put on perfume for their husbands at night. Muslim scholars mentioned some similar cases that may go under this prohibition such as: (1) Adorned clothes, (2) Wearing jewelry, and (3) All means that may arouse men’s whims. Thus, Islamic law placed restrictions that guarantee the safety and security of both women and societies while preserving her right to go to mosques to pray. Finally, this hadith contains the following benefits: (1) The perfection of worship is linked to performing it in accordance with Islamic rules, and (2) It is forbidden for women to wear perfume when going out to pray..