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Female Imams leading Islamic prayer?

here's the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgk5JFGUkRw I think this is what Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) wants for women. He is after all a great defender and helper of women. What do muslims think of this issue ? I'm muslim

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i thought it was 'illegal' to be a female Imam :s so posting it on youtube is making quite a strong point/stand :o oh ok its allowed to be a female imam for women but not for men ... ? that makes it kinda tricky :P
Wow, i thought you guys were against womens rights and were mean to them, as if they were lesser or lower than men. I heard that in Muslim tradition when its time to eat, women make the food, and then the women eat after the men are finished.
no that's not right at all read from, muslim women can't lead men in prayers that'snot right! .................................................... from scholar: Before attempting to answer this question, I wish to stress from the outset, the following two points which, I believe, are crucial while discussing any issue that has any bearing on gender relations in Islam: 1. The question of imamah (leading) in Prayer has nothing to do with the issue of gender equity or equality between the rights of men and women. In Islam, we do not have a male priestly elite acting as intermediaries between man/woman and God. So, to consider imamah as a privilege that confers some special spiritual prerogatives on a person is enigmatic to Islam. 2. It is true that women need to claim their God-given rights in Muslim society—rights, which although granted to them by the Lawgiver, are either denied to them or restrained in the wake of the general decline of Muslim standards. Therefore, all those who wish to achieve a genuine Islamic renaissance should welcome each and every move by Muslim women to reassert their rightful role as active participants and partners of males in all aspects of Islamic life. It is not an exaggeration to state that the Muslim women during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were not at all silent witnesses, but rather they were active participants in society—a fact which has been fully documented in the authentic sources of Islam. After having said this, however, we must state that using Prayer to demonstrate the above point is at best a poor choice, if not an outright aberration. For it serves only to distract us from focusing our attention on real issues that have direct bearing on gender equity and justice for females, thereby helping to improve the lot of women in Muslim communities. Now, coming to the issue of a woman leading Prayer, we ought to remember the following points: Prayer in its entirety, including its basic format and details, has been fixed by Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in such a way that it cannot be subject to any modification whatsoever. We are told in the authentic sources that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was wont to reiterate, “Pray as you have seen me praying.” In other words, we cannot depart from the precedents and examples set by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in regards to Prayer. Prayer belongs to those rather limited areas of Islamic Shari`ah that have been immutably fixed. Imam Shah Waliullah has rightly called it maqadir (fixed forms), which cannot be altered or tampered with. While the same immutability does not apply to the vast majority of rules of Jurisprudence, it does apply to the form and method of `ibadat (acts of worship), Prayer being the most important of these. Thus, we cannot modify the format or method of Prayer; by doing so we are interfering with the part of religion that is destined to remain unchangeable. The rules of Prayer established by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) provide no precedent for allowing women to lead a mixed gathering of men and women who are considered as non-mahram (unrelated through blood or marriage). Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) however, did set a precedent for women to lead members of their own family in Prayer if they are specially qualified. The hadith of Umm Waraqah, which states that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed her to lead the members of her own household in Prayer, establishes the precedent for this issue. Likewise, we also have precedents from the early times for a woman leading prayers an exclusive gathering of women; such was the practice of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) such as `A’ishah and Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with them) who were known for their profound knowledge and eminence in religion. Therefore, there cannot be any objection for women organizing their own Prayer spaces or even Jumu`ah (Friday Prayer) if there is a necessity or if there are specific benefits to be derived from the same, as has been done in some Muslim communities. If it had been permissible for women to lead a mixed gathering of men and women, it would have certainly been done by at least some of the eminent women such as `A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who never lagged behind anyone in her assertiveness and positive affirmation of women’s rights in Islam. We know that while she led women in Prayer, she never did so when it was a mixed gathering. Rather, in such cases she always appointed a man to lead, in spite of the fact that he was less knowledgeable than her. For instance, she appointed her mawla (freed slave) to lead in Tarawih (night Prayers of Ramadan), even though he was reading from a mushaf (copy of the Qur’an). Moreover, if it had been permissible for a woman to lead a mixed gathering, then `A’ishah, again, would have led at least some of the Prayers in the Prophet’s Mosque, as she was eminently qualified because of her preeminence in knowledge, as we can infer from the overwhelming testimonials of the Companions and their successors regarding the same. It is, therefore, safe to conclude that there is no justification in the sources for a woman leading a mixed congregation or Jumu`ah Prayer. Moreover, in the case of Jumu`ah, there is another point to be considered. Thanks to the compassionate aspect of the Shari`ah, women are not religiously obligated to attend Jumu`ah Prayers because such a duty could be in conflict with their vital duties of caring and nurturing the future generations—a function which is far more ennobled and dignified in Islam than anything else. In light of the above, it is only reasonable to conclude that the stance of a woman leading Jumu`ah for both men and women is inconsistent with the sound understanding of Islam grounded in the authentic sources. It is also contrary to the precedents of the early generations, whom we are to take as our role models in matters of religion. Before concluding, it behooves us to point out that Muslim women’s claim to gender equity cannot be served by pitting men and women against each other as if they were rivals. It is, rather, better served by assuming their complementary roles. The entire issue of woman’s imamah seems to be driven by a secular paradigm that is predicated upon an assumption of competition and rivalry between the genders, rather than on the tawheedi (based on Oneness of God) paradigm. The perspective of tawheed, as established by the Qur’an, characterizes both men and women as protective friends and partners under the Lordship of Allah, fulfilling complementary, not overlapping, roles.
I'm all for it! :)
I think that muslims have no idea what Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) wants for anyone, which is why the Sunnis and Shi-ites are still arguing over who the proper successor to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) should have been.
Being a female imam is not a problem if your group is made up entirely of women. There are various opinions about whether a woman is permitted to lead men in prayer. One of the overriding reasons to permit it would be the idea that the imam is supposed to be the most learned person in the group and if it is a woman, then so she should lead. I would venture to guess that most Muslims feel women should not be imams but I don't know for sure if there is a Qu'ranic verse or strong Hadith which makes a statement about this.
God created man and women in different nature ,accordingly each one is assigned with different responsibilities (there are always exceptions) but the rules are not made for exceptions. Man is known to be patient less ambitious has strong will power etc... woman on the other hand is more compassionate emotional and cannot withstand hardship as much as man can. Giving lead reship to a woman is nothing else but overburdening her. I have seen many of of my friends displeased with there jobs They prefer to stay home and take care of their children regardless of their possessions those ladies who are really successful outside are neither good mothers nor wives. Therefor the woman should not try to race with man in leadership they rule behind the scene anyway. On the other hand woman praying in front of the man has to expose her body to man which is not suitable to any religion all religions order modesty, especially Islam. However if a woman wants to lead prayer she can lead other women.
Its not allowed at all for female muslim to be imam of prayer at all. Unless just women who are praying alone.
There is a consensus among Muslim jurists that a woman is not allowed to lead men in a Mosque or congregation. Also, she is not allowed to lead people in a Friday Prayer or to deliver the Friday khutbah. She is, however, allowed to lead a congregation consisting only of women. Responding to the question, Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, President of the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) and member of the Fiqh Council of North America, states the following: 1. Islamic teachings are based on two things: belief and submission. When it comes to `ibadat (acts of worship), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us to follow his example and not someone else’s. Salah (ritual Prayer) is unanimously agreed to be an act of `ibadah, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said “Pray as you see me praying.” So the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions and the generations that came after them have to be followed. 2. The rules of salah should be known from scholars because they know how to interpret the sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Among those great scholars are `A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Among the rules of salah are the requirements and prerequisites for how to perform it, who can lead the people in salah, and so on. 3. Scholars have put certain conditions for someone to be qualified to lead the people in Prayer. The imam must be a Muslim, sane, adolescent, male, and pure, i.e., have wudu’ (ablution). Women leading men in Prayer is wrong, whether in fard (obligatory) or nafl (supererogatory) Prayers. But if the followers are only women, it is allowed for a woman to lead the Prayer. According to Shafi`is and Hanbalis, a woman can lead other women in Prayer while standing in the middle of the line. According to Malikis, women cannot lead other women in Prayer at all, while the Hanafis say it is makruh or blameworthy. 4. According to the hadith of Umm Waraqah reported in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a muezzin for her, and ordered her to lead her family members in Prayer. 5. The majority of Muslim jurists say that there is no single incident where a woman led a mixed Prayer outside her family members. Having said that, we cannot find one single proof that women can lead men outside their family members in salah, and going with the hadith “pray as you see me praying”, we cannot innovate a way of performing salah. Can a Woman Act as Imam or Deliver Jum`ah Khutbah? First of all, it should be clear that the Qur'an and the Prophet’s Sunnah bear witness to the fact that woman is at least as vital to life as man himself, and that she is not inferior to him. When the Shari`ah restricts some positions to men, it does not mean discrimination, but this should be understood within the frame of the general objectives of the Shari`ah, which are set by the Law-giver (Almighty Allah) to order the lives of men and women in a way that best suits their natures. Explaining the Shari`ah-based rulings regarding whether a woman can act as an imam or not, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: According to the general consensus of jurists and scholars of Hadith, a woman is not allowed to lead men in a mosque or congregation. She is, however, allowed to lead a congregation consisting only of women. In the latter case, it is not only permitted for women to do so, rather it may even be considered highly recommended because of the greater rewards of praying in congregation (jama’ah) as compared to praying individually. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never said that such rewards are solely applicable to men and that women are excluded. The authentic practice of the Mothers of the Faithful, such as `A’ishah and Umm Salmah (may Allah be pleased with them), also confirms this conclusion. Both of the esteemed wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who were highly regarded for their deep grasp of religion, used to lead women in Prayer. Although the vast majority of scholars are of the opinion that a woman may not lead men at all, there is a minority of them – including scholars such as Imam Ibn Jarir, the celebrated commentator of the Qur’an, as well as jurists such as Abu Thawr and Al-Muzani – who consider it permissible for a woman to lead members of her own household in Prayer. The last mentioned group of scholars have based their ruling on the following report of Abu Dawud on the authority of Umm Waraqah: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to visit her in her own home; he appointed a mu’adhin (one who calls the adhan for Prayer) for her, and ordered her to lead the members of her household (in Prayer).” Umm Waraqah—as stated in the sources—was an esteemed woman of Al-Ansar who had memorized the Qur’an. `Abdul-Rahman Ibn Khalid, the narrator of the Hadith, further states: “I happened to see her mu’adhin, who was a person advanced in age.” Based on the above evidence, some scholars have concluded that a woman is allowed to lead her own family members in Prayer especially in the following cases: - If she is exceptionally qualified and others are not so well versed in the rules of Prayer and knowledge of the Qur’an; - If her husband is a new Muslim who is struggling to learn the rules of Prayer and the Qur’an, while she herself is perfectly well versed in them; - If she is a mother of minors who are still learning the rules of Prayer and the Qur’an. In exceptional cases such as the above, the Hadith of Umm Waraqah is undoubtedly a great source of relief. A woman has to adhere to her Muslim identity. In other words, she should pay attention to her dress and decorum in public. She should not soften her voice in a way that raises curiosity in those who possess ill manners. Allah Almighty says: (O ye wives of the Prophet! Ye are not like any other women. If ye keep your duty (to Allah), then be not soft of speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease aspire (to you), but utter customary speech.) (Al-Ahzab 33: 32) Women are not allowed to deliver jum`ah khutbah (Friday sermon), which is part of an act of worship. The eminent Muslim scholar Sheikh `Abdel Khaliq Hasan Ash-Shareef states: Sister, you should know that a woman is not permitted to deliver jum`ah khutbah nor to lead men in Prayer. jum`ah Prayer, in principle, is not an obligation upon women. May Allah guide us to the truth. Allah knows the best.