Sutra (screen) in Prayer!

[Libinette]

:salam2:

Narrated Abu Juhaim bin Al-Harith: Allah's Messenger :saw2: said:

If the person who passes in front of another person in prayer knew the magnitude of his sin, it would have better for him to wait for forty [1] than pass in front of him.
[Agreed upon. This version is of Al-Bukhari.]

[1] It means that passing in front of a person in prayer is prohibited. The reporter of this hadith Abu An-Nasr stated that he knows not what is the meaning of forty, it may be days, months, or years. But in another hadith the word 'year' is given.

 

[Libinette]

Therefore, the one praying should put what we call a sutra in fornt of them, while praying as the following hadith explains:

Narrated Sabra bin Ma'bad Al-Juhani: Allah's Messenger :saw2:said:

'Let the one of you who is in salat (prayer) put a sutra in front of him even if it is an arrow'.

[Reported by Al-Hakim]

When one prays, the Blessing of Allah faces him. Sutra serves as a fence and the Blessing of Allah remains within the limits of fence area. Anyone who crosses the fence (sutra) do not confront the Blessing of Allah and the prayer is not affected. In the absance of a sutra, there is no limit for the Blessing of Allah and a passer-by clashes with it and the concentration towards Allah is perturbed. Therefore, Sutra was made complusary.

 

[Happy 2BA Muslim]

:salam2:

Question: I know that it is not permissible to walk directly in front of a worshipper engaged in prayer. How far ahead of the worshipper must I be before I will be allowed to pass in front of him?

Answered by Sheikh Khâlid al-Mushaykih, professor at al-Imâm University, al-Qasîm brach

There are two different situations to consider.

The first situation is where the worshipper has placed something in front of him or positioned himself behind a pillar or something else to define his prayer space. This thing is known as the worshipper's sutrah. If he has taken a sutrah for himself, then it is permissible for you to pass directly beyond the sutrah. It is unlawful for you to pass between the worshipper and his sutrah.

The second situation is where the worshipper has not placed anything in front of him to define his prayer space. In this case, his prayer space is defined by the place that his head will go upon prostration. You may pass beyond that point. Some scholars have approximated this distance to be roughly three forearm lengths from the worshipper’s feet.

And Allah knows best.

‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas said: “I came along riding on a female donkey one day when I had just reached the age of puberty. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was leading the people in prayer in Mina, without any kind of wall in front of him. I passed in front of part of the row, then I got down and sent the donkey to graze, and joined the row, and no one rebuked me for that.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 472; Muslim, 504)

Imaam al-Bukhaari gave this hadeeth the heading of “Sutrat al-Imaam sutrat man khalfahu (the sutrah of the imaam is the sutrah of those behind him).” This hadeeth clearly proves our point, which is that the person who is praying behind the imaam does not have to have a sutrah, and it does not matter what passes in front of him, especially since Ibn ‘Abbaas passed in front of them with his donkey, which is one of the things which invalidates prayer if it passes in front of the imaam or a person who is praying on his own.

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said:

This hadeeth – i.e., the hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari (487) and Muslim (505) from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri which says “If any one of you is praying, he should not let anyone pass in front of him. Let him push him away as much as he can, and if he insists then let him fight him, for he is nothing but a shaytaan (devil)” – indicates that it is makrooh to pass in front of a person who is praying if he is praying on his own and without a sutrah. The same ruling applies to the imaam if he is praying without a sutrah. But with regard to the person who is praying behind the imaam, it does not matter what passes in front of him, just as it does not matter what passes in front of the imaam or person praying alone if it passes behind the sutrah. The sutrah of the imaam is also the sutrah of those who are praying behind him.

We say this concerning the imaam and the person who prays alone, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “If any one of you is praying…” According to the scholars, this means praying on his own, because of the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas. Hence we say that the person who is praying behind the imaam does not have to push away the person who passes in front of him, because Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “I came along riding on a female donkey one day when I had just reached the age of puberty. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was leading the people in prayer in Mina, without any kind of wall in front of him. I passed in front of part of the row, then I got down and sent the donkey to graze, and joined the row, and no one rebuked me for that.”

(al-Tamheed, 4/187)

IslamQA

:salam2:

 

[Libinette]

Barakallahu Feek, for your post.. very relevant!

 

[alkathiri]

How big or how long a sutra should be?

It is permissible for a worshipper to use anything as a sutrah [an object placed in front of him to “screen” him whilst he is praying], even if it is an arrow, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you prays, let him place a sutrah for his prayer, even if it is an arrow.” Narrated by Ahmad, 14916; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 2783.

The scholars even said: He can screen himself with a thread or the edge of the rug. Indeed it says in the hadeeth that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said whoever cannot find a stick, let him draw a line, as it says in the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When any one of you prays, let him face towards something, and if he cannot find anything, let him use a stick, and if he does not have a stick, let him draw a line, then it will not matter whatever passes in front of him.” Narrated by Imaam Ahmad. Ibn Hajar said in Buloogh al-Maraam: Those who said that this hadeeth is weak are incorrect; rather it is hasan.

All of this indicates that the sutrah does not have to be big, rather it is sufficient for it to be something that indicates that it is serving as a screen.

Source : Part of Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/326
Full source: http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=21662&ln=eng&txt=sutra