By Shaykh Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

Woman’s prayers
Woman have been told to contract during the prostration. It is
related from Ali, Radi-Allahu anhu, that when a woman
prostrates, she should contract and join her thighs together
(Musannaf ibn Abi Shayba, Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq). Ibn
'Abbas, Radi-Allahu anhu, was asked about the prayer of a
woman. He said, "She should contract and come together"
(Musannaf ibn Abi Shayba). It is related from Hasan Basri (may
Allah have mercy on him) that a woman should contract in
prostration" (Musannaf ibn Abi Shayba). Likewise, Ibrahim
Nakh'ay said, "When a woman prostrates she should join her
stomach to her thighs and not raise her buttocks and she should
not separate [her limbs] as men do. Imam Abu Dawud relates in
his Marasil from Yazid ibn Habib that the Messenger of Allah
passed by two woman who were praying. He said to them,
"When you pray join part of your body to the ground, for women
are not like men in this regard. Imam Shafi'i writes in Al-Umm
"A man and woman in regards to remembrance and salat are the
same, except that I instruct that they be more concealing than
men in ruku' and prostration by joining their limbs together. A
similar opinion has been related from Imam Ahmad, and such is
also the Hanafi opinion.
As far as the following hadith is concerned in which the
Messenger of Allah said, "Be reposeful in prostration and do
not rest your forearms on the ground as a dog does," (Bukhari,
Muslim), this prohibition does not extend to women since they
have been instructed to contract in prostration, which includes
placing the arms on the ground. This is further supported by a
version of this narration in Sahih Muslim, which states that "the
Messenger of Allah prohibited that a man spread his forearms
like a beast" -hence, excluding women (see Radd al-muhtar
1:432).
And Allah knows best.