Suppose a man and his wife are offering an obligatory prayer at home together. Where does the woman stand in relation to her husband — to his side, a little behind him?
When a woman joins her husband or father or brother in a congregational prayer, and they are the only ones offering that prayer, he leads the prayer and she stands right behind him.
If two men are forming a congregational prayer, one of them leads the prayer, and the other stands to his right, slightly behind. If there are two men and one woman, then the two men stand as if they are lone, with one person slightly behind the imam to his right, and the woman stands behind them. If there are three or more men, then two men form a row behind the imam, and the woman stands on her own further behind. If there are a group of men and women, then the women form their rows behind the men's rows.
Some of the substances which a woman uses as part of her makeup, such as perfume, hair spray, anti-deodorants and facial and body powder may contain alcohol. What should she do, if she wants to offer her prayer? Some women pray wearing their full make up, including lipstick. How far is this correct.
What seems to be the point at issue in the first part of your question is the fact that alcohol may be an ingredient of the substances used. It is well know that intoxicants, all of which are alcoholic drinks, are described as impure. The question is whether such impurity is imparted to other substances in which alcohol is an ingredient.
To answer, I would like to point out that the weightier opinion is that the impurity of alcohol is not physical. In other words, if alcohol is dropped on someone's clothes and then it dries up, the person concerned need not wash his clothes to remove the impurity. He may use them in prayer without having to wash them first.
Hence, if a man or a woman uses perfume or after-shave or anti-deodorant spray or any similar substance which includes alcohol, they need not worry about offering their prayer in the normal way just on account of having used such substances.
In matter of using makeup, Islamic rulings appear to take account of the fact that women need to use such substances more than men. For example, it is not possible for a man to offer prayers, if he has used saffron over any part of his body. There is no such restriction on women. A man, however, may use saffron over his clothes and offer his prayers. The Prophet used to do that, because saffron gives clothes a better appearance.
If a woman wants to go to the mosque to offer her prayers, she may not go wearing perfume, unless its smell has disappeared. This restrictions is not made on account of the substance of perfume itself, but on the basis of the fact that its smell may attract attention to her. As you realize, when a Muslim woman goes out, she must dress in a way which does not attract passers by. If she is praying at home alone or with a group of Muslim women, she may offer her prayer without removing her makeup first. If she removes some of her makeup which stands out as particularly noticeable, such as lipstick, this is preferable according to some scholars.
• Prayers: Women's praying method
Could you please let me know what differences there are between the prayers of a man and a woman.
Muslim men and women are required to offer five obligatory prayers everyday in the same way and with the same requirements. There are a few differences between men and women and how they carry themselves in the Muslim community. For example, a man is required to cover the area of his body between his navel and his knees. While a woman must cover all her body with the exception of her face and the lower part of her hands. A woman is exempt from prayer during her menstruation period and during her postnatal period. In congregational prayer, men form their lines ahead of the lines of women. If a group of women is offering congregational prayer on its own, anyone of them may lead the prayer, but the lady imam stands in the middle of the row, while a man imam stands on his own about a meter ahead of the congregation.