TEHRAN — Iranian religious leaders have lifted a ban on women leading congregational prayers for the first time in the history of Shiite Islam, the state news agency IRNA reported this week.
Six top Islamic jurists, or marjas, issued a ruling, known as a fatwa, authorizing women to lead worshipers of their own sex, the news agency said.
Until now, only male clerics were allowed to lead prayers.
The decree solves a major problem in all-girl schools, where women had not been allowed to lead prayers, the news agency quoted an education ministry official, Ali Asghar Nuri, as saying.
"The fatwa helps solve a problem in mass prayers in girls' schools. It is useful in persuading schoolgirls to pray," he said.