Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Abu Saʿid al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw some of his Companions hanging back. He said to them: ‘Come forward and follow my lead, and let those behind you follow your lead. People will continue to hold back until Allah, Mighty and Majestic, puts them back.’

The mother of Yahya ibn Bashir ibn Khallad said: I entered upon Muhammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazi and heard him say that Abu Hurayrah reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: ‘Place the imam in the middle and close the gaps.’

Wabisah reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw a man praying alone behind the row and ordered him to repeat the prayer. Sulayman ibn Harb specified: ‘the prayer.’

Abu Bakrah reported that he entered the mosque while the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) was bowing. He bowed before reaching the row. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘May Allah increase your eagerness, but do not do that again.’

Al-Hasan reported that Abu Bakrah came while the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was bowing. Abu Bakrah bowed before the row, then walked to it. When the Prophet (ﷺ) finished praying, he asked: ‘Who among you bowed before the row and then walked to it?’ Abu Bakrah said: ‘I did.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘May Allah increase your eagerness, but do not do that again.’

Abu Dawud said: ‘Ziyad al-Aʿlam was Ziyad, son of so-and-so, son of Qurrah. He was the maternal cousin of Yunus ibn ʿUbaydullah.’

Talhah ibn ʿUbaydullah reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘If you place something in front of you like the rear of a saddle, then it will not harm you if someone passes in front of you beyond it.’

ʿAta’ said: ‘The rear of a saddle is a cubit high or more.’

Ibn ʿUmar reported that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out for the Eid prayer, he would order a spear to be placed in front of him and pray toward it, with the people behind him. He did this while traveling as well, and this is why rulers adopted the practice.

Abu Juhaifah reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) led them in prayer at al-Batha’, with a short spear planted in front of him. He prayed two rakʿahs for Zuhr and two for ʿAsr. A woman and a donkey passed behind the spear.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you prays, let him place something in front of him. If he cannot find anything, let him set up a staff. If he has no staff, let him draw a line. Then it will not harm him whatever passes in front of him.’

This route, through Abu Hurayrah, from Abu al-Qasim, mentions the report about drawing a line. Sufyan said: ‘We found nothing to support this report, and it has come only by this route.’ I said to Sufyan: ‘They differ about it.’ He thought for a while, then said: ‘I remember only Abu Muhammad ibn ʿAmr.’ Sufyan said: ‘A man came here after Ismaʿil ibn Umayyah had died. He searched for Abu Muhammad until he found him and asked him about the report, but he confused him.’

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal asked more than once to describe the line. He said: ‘Like this, horizontally, like a crescent.’ Abu Dawud said: I heard Musaddad say that Ibn Dawud said: ‘The line should be lengthwise.’ Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal describe it more than once: ‘Like this, horizontally, curved around like a crescent—that is, bent.’

Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah said: I saw Sharik lead us in the ʿAsr prayer at a funeral, and he placed his cap in front of him—meaning, during an obligatory prayer whose time had arrived.

Ibn ʿUmar reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to pray facing his camel.

Dubaʿah, daughter of al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, reported from her father that he said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) pray toward a stick, pillar, or tree without placing it opposite his right or left eyebrow, rather than directly in front of him.

Muhammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazi said: I said to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz, ‘ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbbas told me that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Do not pray behind someone who is sleeping or talking.”’

Sahl ibn Abi Hathmah reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you prays facing a sutrah, let him stand close to it, so that Satan does not interrupt his prayer.’

Abu Dawud said: Waqid ibn Muhammad also transmitted it from Safwan, from Muhammad ibn Sahl, from his father—or from Muhammad ibn Sahl directly from the Prophet (ﷺ). Some transmitted it from Nafiʿ ibn Jubayr, from Sahl ibn Saʿd. The chain has variant forms.

Sahl said: The distance between the place where the Prophet (ﷺ) stood and the direction of prayer was enough for a goat to pass. Abu Dawud said: This report is from al-Nufayli.

Abu Saʿid al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you is praying, let him not allow anyone to pass in front of him. Let him turn the person away as best he can; if the person refuses, let him resist him, for he is like a devil.’

Abu Saʿid al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘When one of you prays, let him pray facing a sutrah and stand close to it.’ The narrator then related the rest in a similar sense.

Masarrah ibn Maʿbad al-Lakhmi said: I met him in Kufa. He told me that Abu ʿUbayd, Sulayman’s gatekeeper, said: I saw ʿAta’ ibn Yazid al-Laythi standing in prayer. I went to pass in front of him, but he turned me away. Then he said: Abu Saʿid al-Khudri told me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘If any of you can ensure that no one passes between him and his qiblah, let him do so.’