Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)
كتاب الصلاة
Chapter 109: What May Be Used As A Sutrah By The Praying Person
When you place in front of you something such as the back of a saddle, then there is no harm if someone passes in front of you (i.e. the other side of it).
The back of the saddle is (about) one cubit (in height) or more than that.
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would go out (for prayer) on the day of 'Id, he ordered to bring a lance, it was then setup in front of him and he would pray in its direction, and the people (stood) behind him. He used to do so during journey ; hence the rulers would take it (lance with them).
The Prophet (ﷺ) led them in prayer at al-Batha', with a staff set up in front of him. (He prayed) two rak'ahs of the Zuhr prayer and two rak'ahs of the 'Asr prayer. The women and the donkeys would pass in front of the staff.
Chapter 110: Drawing A Line If One Does Not Find A Stick
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you prays, he should put something in front of his face, and if he can find nothing , he should set up his staff; but if he has no staff, he should draw a line; then what passes in front of him will not harm him.
Sufyan said: We did not find anything by which we could reinforce this tradition, and this has been narrated only through this chain.
He ('Ali b. al-Madini, a narrator) said: I said to Sufyan: There is a difference of opinion of the name (Abu Muhammad b. 'Amr). He pondered for a moment and then said: I do not remember except Abu Muhammad b. 'Amr Sufyan said: A man had come to Kufah after the death of Isma'il b. Umayyah ; he was seeking Abu Muhammad until he found him. He asked him (about this tradition) but he became confused. Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal who was questioned many times how the line should be drawn. He replied: In this way. horizontally like crescent.
Abu Dawud said: I heard Musaddad say: Ibn Dawud said: The line should be drawn perpendicularly.
Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal describing many times how the line should be drawn. He said: In this way horizontally in the round semi-circular form like the crescent, that is (the line should be) a curve.
I saw Sharik who led us in the 'Asr prayer during a funeral ceremony. He placed his cap in front of him, that is, for saying the obligatory prayer the time of which had come.
Chapter 111: Praying Towards A Mount
The Prophet (ﷺ) used to pray facing his camel.
Chapter 112: If He Prays Towards A Pillar Or Other Object, Where Should It Be In Relation To Him
I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) praying in front of a stick, a pillar, or a tree, without having it opposite his right or left eyebrow, and not facing it directly.
Chapter 113: Praying Behind People Who Are talking Or Sleeping
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not pray behind a sleeping or a talking person.
Chapter 114: Coming Close To The Sutrah
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you prays facing a sutrah he should keep close to it, and not let the devil interrupt his prayer.
Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by Waqid b. Muhammad from Safwan from Muhammad b. Sahl on the authority of his father, or on the authority of Muhammad b. Sahl from the Prophet (ﷺ). Some have narrated it from Nafi' b. Jubair on the authority of Sahl b. Sa'd. There is a variation in the chain of its narrators.
The distance between the place where the Prophet (ﷺ) stood and the qiblah (i.e. the sutrah or the wall of the mosque) was as much as to allow a goat to pass.
Chapter 115: The Command To The One Who Is Praying To Block Others From Crossing In Front Of Him
When one of you prays, he should not let anyone pass in front of him; he should turn him away as far as possible; but if he refuses (to go), he should fight him, for he is only a devil.
When one of you prays, he should pray facing the sutrah (screen or covering) and he should keep himself close to it. He then narrated the tradition to the same effect.
I saw 'Ata b. Yazid al-Laithi praying in a standing posture. So I went to him passing in front of him; he, therefore, turned me away. He then said to me: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone of you can do that he should not let anyone pass between him and the qiblah, he should do it.
Abu Dawud said: Sufyan Ath-Thawri said: "A person arrogantly walks in front of me while I am praying, so I stop him, and a weak person passes, so I dont stop him."
Chapter 116: The Prohibition Of Passing In Front Of One Who Is Praying
The Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) as saying: "If one who passes in front of a man who is praying knew the responsibility he incurs, he would prefer to stand still for forty. . . rather than pass in front of him. Abu al-Nadr said: I do not know whether he said forty days, or months, or years."
Abu Dawud: Sufyan al-Thawri said: If a man passes proudly in front of me while I am praying, I shall stop him, and if a weak man passes, I shall not stop him.
Chapter 117: What Breaks The Prayer
Abu Dharr said (and not the Prophet): If there is not anything like the back of a saddle in front of a man who is praying, then a donkey, a black dog, and a woman cut off his prayer. I asked him: Why has the black dog been specified, distinguishing it from a red, a yellow and a white dog? He replied: My nephew, I also asked the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) the same question as you asked me. He said: The black dog is a devil.
Qatadah said: I heard Jabir ibn Zayd who reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas; and Shu'bah reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: A menstruating woman and a dog cut off the prayer.
Abu Dawud said: Sa'id, Hisham and Hammam narrated this tradition from Qatadah on the authority of Jabir b. Zaid as a statement of Ibn 'Abbas.
Ikrimah reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas, saying: I think the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone's throw.
Abu Dawud said: There is something about this tradition in my heart. I used to discuss it with Ibrahim and others. I did not find anyone who narrated it from Hisham and knew it. I did not know anyone who reported it from Hisham and knew it. I did not know anyone who related it from Hisham. I think the confusion is on the part of Ibn Abi Saminah that is, Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Basri, the freed slave of Banu Hisham. In this tradition the mention of words "a Magian" is rejected; the mention of the words "at a stone's throw" and "a pig" is rejected.
Abu Dawud said: I did not hear this tradition except from Muhammad b. Isma'il b. Samurrah and I think he was mistaken because he used to narrate to us from his memory.