The Hanafi method of Praying for women

One thing I have noticed whilst traveling throughout the Middle East especially Saudi Arabia is that Arabs in general are not familiar with the other Islamic schools of thought with regards to the method of perfo

rming prayers. A few weeks ago whilst in Makkah, mom and I were breaking our fast in the hotel masjid overlooking the grand mosque as I had developed a severe chest infection and coming into contact with millions of other people would have simply exacerbated the situation.Mom and I found ourselves surrounded by Khaleeji women from Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Qatar and of course the local inhabitants of the Kingdom.I actually enjoyed sitting in their company and learning more about their customs and traditions. They offered us Arabic coffee (Qahwa) and dates along with an assortment of sweets and chocolates. The annoying bit kicked in though,once we all stood up to perform our prayers. According to the Hanafi sect of Islam, the women prostrate in a different manner to the men.As soon as I went down into sajda (prostrated) I had a few Arab women trying to straighten my legs.The one woman was mumbling and grumbling telling me that my position is wrong. Another woman was trying to straighten my headscarf even though my head was fully covered and a third woman was pulling my arms. And because I'm quite a ticklish person I simply burst out laughing in my prayers. Naturally, I was a bit annoyed that they broke my prayer but at the same time I thought to myself that it was a perfect opportunity to educate them about the Hanafi school of Islam so that they do not repeat this ludicrous behaviour in the future when they see other Hanafi Muslim women praying.The video below illustrates the Hanafi method of praying for women.