bringing baby to masjid

[Abu Ayyash]

Bismillah

Assalamu'alaykum wrt,

I have two questions:

1. There were many instances where my baby suddenly cries during the prayer. Is it permissible to leave the prayer to calm him down so the others won't get disturbed?

2. Somebody told me that the best place for a woman to pray is at her home. So, is it preferred for my wife to do the night prayers at home, especially with the baby? Will she get the same rewards? 

Jazakumullah khayr

[Aslam AbuIsmaeel]

Wa alaikumusalam wa rhamatullahi wa barkatuh

1. The proper thing, if the baby is with you in a congregation, will be to have a tiny baby with mother instead of father since the Jama'ah is emphasised for men whereas women are excused partly because of kids.  So it is best that the mother keeps a baby of such young age.  As the child grows older, then the father may take him/her to masjid and keep with him. 

It is best for the parent of a baby of such crying and dependent age to keep the baby with them - next to them, in front of them etc.  So that if the baby cries you first try to pick up the baby during the prayer without breaking your prayer and try to calm the baby down.  The Prophet (s) also held baby in his hand or allowed to be with him while he was praying.   This way you can try to calm the baby by holding him/her in your hands while praying.  If that did not work at all and the baby was crying and needed you, then it is fine (especially for the mother) to leave the prayer and attend to the baby and pray later.  I say mother because for the father the jam'ah is far more emphasised.  But if the baby was there with father and crying badly and needed attention then he can also leave prayer for that.

2. The best place for a woman to pray is at home - that is what the Prophet (s) said, "Do not stop the female slaves of Allah from the Masjid but their houses are better for them."

So, if she prayed at home, especially if she had a baby to look after, then she would get more reward for that because the Prophet said the house is better for them, i.e. for them more reward there overall at least for leaving fitnah.  Although praying in house is generally better for women however sometimes like in Ramadan taraweeh in times of less Iman, it may be very advantageous for her to pray at Masjid with others for extra Iman boost.  So, if she can manage to pray in Masjid with a well-behaved child without much problems at all, then that may be beneficial for her from Iman perspective and learning Islam at Masjid.  If the child did not allow her at all, then sure, the house is best for her in many ways including in terms of reward for her (since the Prophet said so).  She may or may not miss the reward of jama'ah but she will get the reward of doing what the Prophet said was better for her (at least for those situations).

To sum it up, if the baby wont give trouble that cannot be handled easily, if she would benefit from Iman and Ilm at masjid, then taraweeh at masjid has those obvious benefits.  If baby gives trouble, or fitnah at masjid or on way to it, then home is better.

Allah knows best.
Wassalamu alaikum