Question:
What is the ruling on little girls attending congregational prayer [with men]? Do they cut
off the row?
Answer:
Certainly, they cut off the row. A small
boy cuts off the row. It is not proper
for a small boy who does not have ablution to stand between people. For you to
bring your son [to the mosque] who does not have ablution and have him stand
beside you in the row, this is not permissible. However, if you have him stand
beside you at the edge or terminal point of the row, then he does not cut off
the row. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) said in Sunan
Abee Daawood, “Whoever connects a row, Allaah will connect him (with His
mercy), and whoever cuts off a row, Allaah will cut him off (from His mercy).”
The reality of bringing children to the mosques is a
critical issue, and there is praiseworthy and blameworthy aspect concerning it.
People have different temperaments, and the furthest of people from justice in
this is the father who deprives his children of prayer. If he sees the children,
he is afflicted with hatred within himself and becomes upset; and if he sees a defect
in them, he goes to extremes in explaining the defect, because he is not at
ease in the first place.
The most just person regarding the ruling on the
prayer of children in the mosques and bringing them is the father who is keen
on his children and their prayer, and who is keen on bringing them to the
mosque… but the father must take care of his child not to cut off the row, so
he should not make him stand in the row and cut off the row. If a child is in a
state of ablution and knows how to pray, what is desirable is that he should be
placed at the edges of the row. Some children pray behind the Imam, so the
parent should pay attention.
As regards bringing a little girl to the mosque,
certainly, she cuts of the row. If a father brings her to the mosque, she
should not be in the row. There is nothing wrong with the father saying to his
son, ‘You, my son, are not in a state of ablution, so do not stand in the row. Stay
away from people. However, whenever you are in a state of ablution, stand in
the row.’
The most miserable person who brings children to the
mosque is the man whose wife says to him: ‘Take the child to the mosque and
relieve us of him.’ This is the most miserable of people because he disturbs
the worshippers, tires them out and worries them for the sake of his wife who
sits at home. And Allaah knows what she does. This is the most miserable of
people.
The basic principle when bringing a child [to the
mosque] is that the intention should be good, and that the father teaches his
child the Islamic rulings.
Source: Majlis Fataawaa al-Jumu’ah, 15/07/2016, by
Shaykh Mashhoor Ibn Hasan Aal Salmaan, transl. by Abdus-Samee Abdus-Salaam.
