The default rule is that men and women pray in the same manner without any differences. This is a general rule in all affairs. This is based on the Hadith of the Prophet, “Women are the twin halves of men.” (Aḥmad) It has been graded as an authentic hadith.

When there is a difference between them, there must be an evidence from the Qur’an or the Sunnah to prove that.

Scholars, based on evidences, identified certain areas of differences between men and women in prayer. They are as follows:

1. A woman is not supposed to recite adhan (prayer call) or iqamah in the presence of men. This is based on consensus which is related by Ibn Qudamah in Al-Mughni, 1:419.
2. A woman cannot be an imam in congregation.
3. The whole body of a woman should be covered during prayer except the face and hands. This is based on the hadith of the Prophet, “No prayer will be accepted from an adult woman unless she wears a khimar (head-cover)”. There is a disagreement among scholars as to whether her heels and feet should be covered.
4. Imam Ash-Shafi`i maintained that women should keep the parts of their bodies close to one another, and they should make their stomachs touch their thighs during sujood. This is more covering and preferable, in ruku` and the rest of the prayer too. (An-Nawawi, Majmu` 3:429)
5. Congregational prayer is not required of women.
6. The imam of a group of women stands in the middle of the first row. If one woman and one man are praying, she should stand behind him, not next to him.
7. If women are praying in rows behind men, the back rows are better for them than the front rows.
8. When the imam commits an error during prayer, women are supposed to clap by placing the left hand on the back of her right hand’s wrist.

 

Allah Almighty knows best.