Can women teach in the mosque?

A long history of women scholars

Aisha, the Prophet's ﷺ wife, was one of the greatest teachers of the early community. Senior Companions came to her with questions, and a large share of hadith reaches us through her. Later, the scholar Umm ad-Darda taught in the great mosque of Damascus, and men and women attended her classes. Historians have documented thousands of women hadith scholars over the centuries, many of whom taught famous male scholars.

The Prophet ﷺ himself made time to teach women. When women told him that men took up all his time, he promised them a day of their own, and he came and taught them (Sahih al-Bukhari 101).

Spreading good is shared work

The Quran describes men and women as partners in calling to good:

Teaching the religion is one of the clearest ways to "enjoin what is right." For a wider look at how Islam views women's roles, see Do women have rights under sharia law?

Who can she teach?

• Women and girls: agreed by all scholars. Sisters' circles, Quran classes and new-Muslim courses are often run by women.
• Children: very common in weekend madrasas.
• Mixed or male audiences: permitted by many scholars when there's modest dress, a respectful setting and no private seclusion. Some communities prefer a screen or separate seating. The reverse case is covered in Can a woman learn the Quran from a male teacher?

Teaching vs leading the prayer

All four Sunni schools hold that a woman doesn't lead men in the obligatory prayer. Leading other women is a different matter: the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools allow it, the Hanafi school considers it disliked, and the Maliki school doesn't allow it. None of this limits her teaching, giving talks to sisters, running study circles or serving on a mosque's education team. Where the women's space is small, see Can women pray in the main hall of the mosque?