Etiquette Of Women In Prayer

Imam Baquar (a.s) says,
"A woman prays in a dir'aa (dress) and a miqna‘a (head covering) if it is thick, meaning concealing."

Yunus ibn Ya‘qub asked Imam Ja‘far al‑Sadiq (a.s):
"About a man who prays in a single garment?"

The Imam (a.s) said:
"Yes."

Yunus said:
"What about a woman?"

The Imam (a.s) said:
"No. And it is not proper for a free woman, when she has reached menstruation (i.e., puberty), except with a khimār (head covering), unless she does not find one."

Ali ibn Ja‘far asked his brother Imam Musa ibn Jafar Al-Kadhim (a.s) about a woman who has nothing except a single milḥafah (large cloth for covering). How should she pray?

The Imam (a.s) said:
"She wraps herself in it, covers her head with it, and prays. If her feet become uncovered and she is not able to manage anything else, then there is no problem."

And in the narration of al‑Mu‘alla ibn Khunays from Imam Jaffar al-Sadiq (a.s):

“I asked him about a woman who prays in a dir‘ (long gown) and a milḥafa (large cloth for covering) while she does not have an izār (lower wrap) nor a miqna‘ah (head covering).”

He (the Imam) said:
“There is no problem if she wraps herself with it; and if it does not cover her sufficiently in width, then she should arrange it lengthwise.”

Imam Baquar (a.s) says,
"There is no obligation of a veil (covering the head) in prayer upon a female slave, nor upon a mudabbara (a slave who has been promised freedom after the master’s death), nor upon a mukataba (a slave under a contract of manumission) if her master has stipulated conditions upon her while she is still owned, until she completes the entire payment of her contract. And the same rulings that apply to slaves in all legal punishments apply to her as well."

Iyas ibn al‑Qasim narrated from Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq (a.s) :

Regarding a man who prays in a woman’s lower garment (izar) and in her clothing, and wraps himself with her head-cover (khimar).

The Imam (a.s) said: “If she is trustworthy, then there is no harm.”

Imam Jaffar al-Sadiq (a.s) says,
"Do not lodge women in the upper rooms (private elevated chambers), and do not teach them writing, and do not teach them Surah Yusuf. Instead, teach them the spindle (spinning/weaving) and Surah al‑Nur. And when a woman glorifies Allah (does tasbih), she should count on her fingers, for indeed those fingers will be questioned on the Day of Resurrection."