Fathwa, - Is it legally valid for men and women to pray in one line?

Question:
Is it legally valid for men and women to pray in one line?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
The general ruling is thatwomen should stand behind men when they are
praying together in congregation.
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the
Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) that he said:
�The best rows for men are the first rows, and the worst ones are the
last ones. The best rows for women are the last ones,and the worst
ones for them are the first ones.� (Sahih Muslim, no: 440)
Hence, it is stated in the renowned Hanafi Fiqh masterpiece, al-Hidaya:
�Men will make their rows first, then children and thereafter women��
(al-Hidaya, 1/124. Also see: Maraqi al-Falah, P: 249, al-Fatawa
al-Hindiyya, 1/89 and others)
According to the Hanafi School, if a woman was to pray next to a man,
the prayer of themanwould become invalid, and not the prayer of
thewoman. However, there are certain conditions in order for the man�s
prayer (salat) to become invalid: These conditions are as following:
1) The woman has reached puberty or is close to puberty in such away
that sexual gratification is typically acquired from her.
2) The prayer they are both offering consists of bowing (ruku�) and
prostration (sajda), even if one of them may be gesturing. Hence, the
funeral prayer of a man will not be invalidated if a woman prays next
to him, for it does not consist of a Ruku� and Sajda.
3) Both the man and woman are offering the same prayer with the same
Tahrima. In other words, they are both following the same Imamor the
woman is following the man. If they are offering their own individual
prayers, the man�s prayer will notbecome invalid.
4) There is no barrier between the man and woman. However, if there is
a barrier between them such as a pillar, then the man�s prayer would
not become invalid. This barrier should be, at minimum, the size of
the rear of a saddle in length, and to the thickness of a finger.
Moreover, empty space isalso considered to be a barrier, the minimum
of which should be that in which a person is able to stand. Thus, if a
man prayed next to a woman without a barrier, but there was enough
space between them for another person to stand, then the man�s prayer
would not become invalid.
5) The Imam makes the intention of the woman following him, for if the
Imam fails to make this intention, her prayer would become invalid
rather than the man�s, asthe Imam�s intention is arequirement for the
correctness of a woman�s prayer. Moreover, the condition is that the
Imam makes this intention (of the woman following him) atthe time of
commencing prayer, thus if a woman came later on and joinedin the
congregation and the Imam made the intention of her joining him, no
one�s prayer would become invalid.
6) The woman is from amongst those whose prayer is considered valid;
hence, if an insane woman (majnuna) prayed next to a man, hisprayer
would not be invalidated.
7) The woman remains praying next to the man for the duration of one
complete posture (rukn) of Salat such as the duration in which one can
offer a Ruku� or Sajda. (This is normally estimated to be the duration
of reading Subhan Allah thrice). Hence, if a woman remained next to
him fora period shorter than this and then left, the man�s prayer
would not become invalid.
8) Both the woman and man pray in the same direction, hence if they
were facing in different directions, such as when praying in the
Ka�ba, then the man�s prayer would not be invalidated. (See: al-Fatawa
al-Hindiyya, 1/89 & Radd al-Muhtar, 1/572)
The above are eight conditions that need to be found in order for a
man�s prayer to become invalid when praying next to a woman. If any
one of these conditions is not met, his prayer would not be
invalidated.
It is important to remember here that there is a slight difference of
opinion amongst the classical Hanafi Fuqaha with regards to the actual
method of being next to someone of the opposite gender. Is the prayer
invalidated with any limb of one�s body beingin line with any limb of
the other�s body or is the ruling based on the positioning of the
feet?
Some jurists are of the view that if any limb of the woman is in line
withany limb of the man, the man�s prayer would become invalid.
Therefore, whilst prostrating, if a woman�s head becomes in line with
the feet of the man, his prayer would be invalidated. However, the
relied uponopinion and that chosen by Ibn Abidin and others is that
the ruling will be based on the feet and in particular the heel. Thus,
the man�s prayer would not become invalid, as long as his heel is in
front of the woman�s heel. (Radd al-Muhtar, 1/572)
Given this difference of opinion, it is best for a spouse, for
example, to stand completely behind her husband when praying in
congregation.However, their prayer will be valid as long as her feet
and heel are behind her husband�s heel.
It is also worth remembering here that this above-mentioned ruling
applies to all typesof women, Mahram and non-Mahram, related or
unrelated, provided she has attained puberty or she is close to
puberty such that sexual gratification is typically acquired from her.
(al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 1/89)
Based on the above explanation, if men and women were praying together
in the same linein a congregation and behind one Imam, then the man
who is standing at the end of the men�s line which is connected to the
women�s line, his prayer will not be valid, provided all the other
above-mentioned conditions are met.
Imam Abd al-Hay al-Lakhnawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his
notes on Imam al-Marghinani�s renowned al-Hidaya:
�Marghinani�s statement: �And that there is no barrier� It is
regarding this, Imam AbuYusuf (Allah have mercy on him) said that if
men and women prayed together in one line, the prayer of only one man,
the one standing between the men�s and women�s line, will become
invalid. And this man will be considered abarrier between the other
men and women.� (See: al-Hidaya with notes from Imam al-Lakhnawi,
1/125, Indian print)
However, this is when all the above-mentioned conditions are found.
Hence, if there was a barrier between the men�s and women�s lines
which also includes empty space that would be sufficient for a
personto stand in, then the manstanding at the edge of the row, his
prayer will not be invalidated.
In conclusion, it is alwaysbest for women to stand completely behind
men whilst offering prayer jointly, even if the woman is a close
family member. If a woman prayed next to a man, the prayer of the man
will become invalid. However, in order for theman�s prayer to become
invalid, certain necessaryconditions have to be found. If any one
condition is not met, his prayer would not be invalidated.
And Allah knows best