Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)

Abu Salih said: I will tell you what I saw of Abu Saʿid and heard from him. Abu Saʿid visited Marwan and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘When one of you prays facing something that screens him from the people, and someone tries to pass in front of him, let him push him at the chest. If he refuses, let him resist him, for he is like a devil.’ Abu Dawud said: Sufyan al-Thawri said: ‘If someone struts arrogantly in front of me while I am praying, I stop him; if a weak person passes, I do not stop him.’

Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani sent Busyr ibn Saʿid to Abu Juhaim to ask what he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about someone passing in front of a person praying. Abu Juhaim said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘If the one who passes in front of a person praying knew what burden he incurs, he would consider standing for forty better than passing in front of him.’ Abu al-Nadr said: I do not know whether he said forty days, months, or years.

Abu Dharr reported—according to Hafs, from the Prophet (ﷺ), while the other transmitters report it from Sulayman as Abu Dharr’s statement—that three things interrupt a man’s prayer if there is not in front of him a distance equal to the rear of a saddle: a donkey, a black dog, and a woman. I asked: ‘Why single out the black dog from the red, yellow, and white?’ He replied: ‘My nephew, I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) the same question you asked me, and he said: “The black dog is a devil.”’

Ibn ʿAbbas reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘A menstruating woman and a dog interrupt the prayer.’ Shuʿbah attributes the report to the Prophet. Abu Dawud said: Saʿid and Hisham transmitted it from Qatadah, from Jabir ibn Zayd, as a statement of Ibn ʿAbbas.

Ibn ʿAbbas said—I believe he attributed this to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): ‘When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, a donkey, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, or a woman interrupts his prayer; if they pass beyond a stone’s throw in front of him, that is sufficient for him.’

Abu Dawud said: ‘I have reservations about this report. I discussed it with Ibrahim and others, but I found no one else who brought it from Hisham or knew it. I believe the mistake is from Ibn Abi Samina—that is, Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al-Basri, freedman of Banu Hashim. The objectionable elements are the mention of a Magian and “at a stone’s throw.” The mention of a pig is also objectionable.’ Abu Dawud added: ‘I heard this report only from Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil, and I think he was mistaken, because he used to narrate from memory.’

Yazid ibn Nimran said: I saw a paralyzed man at Tabuk. He said: ‘I passed in front of the Prophet (ﷺ) while riding a donkey as he was praying. He said: “O Allah, cut off his trail.” Since then, I have not walked on them.’

In the same report and chain, Saʿid adds that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘He interrupted our prayer; may Allah cut off his trail.’ Abu Dawud said: Abu Mushir also narrated it from Saʿid with the wording: ‘He interrupted our prayer.’

Saʿid ibn Ghazwan reported from his father that, while on pilgrimage, he stopped at Tabuk and saw a paralyzed man. He asked about the man’s condition. The man said: ‘I will tell you a report, but do not relate it while you hear that I am still alive. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stopped at Tabuk by a palm tree and said: “This is our direction of prayer.” Then he prayed toward it. I was a boy running, and I passed between him and the tree. He said: “He interrupted our prayer; may Allah cut off his trail.” I have not stood on my feet since that day.’

ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb reported from his father, from his grandfather: We descended with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) from the Adhakhir pass. Prayer time came, and he prayed facing a wall, taking it as his qiblah, while we were behind him. A young animal came to pass in front of him. He kept maneuvering it away until his belly was against the wall, and it passed behind him—or so Musaddad said.

Ibn ʿAbbas reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) was praying when a young goat tried to pass in front of him, and he kept warding it off.

ʿA’ishah said: I was between the Prophet (ﷺ) and the qiblah—and Shuʿbah said, ‘I think she said’—while I was menstruating.

Abu Dawud said: Al-Zuhri, ʿAta’, Abu Bakr ibn Hafs, Hisham ibn ʿUrwah, ʿIrak ibn Malik, Abu al-Aswad, and Tamim ibn Salamah all transmitted it from ʿUrwah, from ʿA’ishah. Ibrahim transmitted it from al-Aswad, from ʿA’ishah; Abu al-Duha from Masruq, from ʿA’ishah; and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad and Abu Salamah from ʿA’ishah. None of them mentioned the words ‘while I was menstruating.’

ʿA’ishah reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray at night while she lay across the bed between him and the qiblah. When he wanted to pray witr, he woke her, and she prayed witr.

ʿA’ishah said: ‘How badly you have compared us to donkeys and dogs! I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) praying while I lay across in front of him. When he wanted to prostrate, he nudged my leg, so I drew it toward me, and then he prostrated.’

ʿA’ishah said: ‘I would be asleep with my legs in front of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while he prayed at night. When he wanted to prostrate, he nudged my feet, so I drew them in and he prostrated.’

ʿA’ishah said: I used to sleep lying across the direction of prayer in front of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), while he prayed and I was before him. When he wanted to pray witr—ʿUthman’s version adds: ‘he nudged me’—the two transmitters agree that he said: ‘Move aside.’

Ibn ʿAbbas said: I came riding a donkey. In another version he said: I was then close to puberty, and came riding a she-ass while the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was leading the people in prayer at Mina. I passed in front of part of a row, then dismounted, let the she-ass graze, and joined the row. No one objected. Abu Dawud said: This is al-Qaʿnabi’s wording, and it is more complete. Malik said: I consider that permissible once the prayer has begun.

Abu al-Sahba’ said: We discussed with Ibn ʿAbbas what interrupts the prayer. He said: A boy from Banu ʿAbd al-Muttalib and I came riding a donkey while the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was praying. He dismounted, and I dismounted. We left the donkey in front of the row, and he did not object. Then two girls from Banu ʿAbd al-Muttalib came and entered between the rows, and he did not object to that either.

In another route for the same report, two girls from Banu ʿAbd al-Muttalib came fighting, and he took hold of them. ʿUthman said: ‘He separated them.’ Dawud said: ‘He pulled one away from the other.’ He did not object to that.

Al-Fadl ibn ʿAbbas said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to us in our open country, with ʿAbbas accompanying him. He prayed in an open area without a sutrah in front of him. One of our she-asses and one of our female dogs were playing in front of him, but he paid no attention to them.

Abu Saʿid reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Nothing interrupts the prayer. Repel whoever passes in front of you as much as you can, for he is only a devil.’