4.35 pm: ladies prayer area of a popular Mall
in Karachi…….
My focus was distracted by someone talking loudly. I
tried my best to focus on the words of my Salah yet the loud talking did not
stop. A lady was upset with someone who consciously or unconsciously (giving
every person the benefit of doubt) walked in front of her while she was still
in her prayer. She was upset that moving in front of her even though quickly
had made her Salah null and void and that she had to do it all over again. She
kept on complaining as to how in Shariah it’s not allowed and how people have
no manners or respect for shariah law. For a minute I wondered if the women had
already left who is she telling all this to. But she kept on complaining how
she has to redo her prayer again not realizing that her loud complain was
disturbing many in the surrounding who have no part in this. Sadly her complain
didn’t stop, a few in the crowd tried to calm her down by asking her to move in
front, as in public prayer areas for women the front rows are always empty and people just
crowd and push in the last few rows making the exit of those who have already prayed
difficult.
This is
the scene in most public prayer areas of women, be it in the Mall, a club or
even a women section for taraveeh
prayer in few masjids in Ramadan. This brings us to an important question; do etiquettes of congregational prayers
apply to prayer areas where people are praying individually and not as a group.
As prayer in congregation start and ends together for all the people, whereas
if we are praying individually we start and end differently. Secondly how long
should we sit and wait for the other person to finish when we are in a public
place and we all have our set of chores that needs to be done. Do we wait only for
the person next to us or praying behind us or in front of us…… what do we do.
My mom would often put her purse in front of her so if anyone wanted to pass
they can it’s called a Sutrah, but there are many etiquette's we all must know, so here is
some research on the issue so we learn the true etiquette's of praying in public and achieve the true
purpose of Salah.
With regard to the question mentioned
above, if someone wants to pass in front of a person who is praying, one of the
following scenarios must apply:
1 – If he/she
passes in front of the one who is praying, i.e., in the area between the spot where he/she puts his/her forehead
when he prostrates and where he stands, this is haraam, and indeed
it is a major sin as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “If the one who passes in front of a person who is praying knew what (a
burden of sin) he bears, it would be better for him to stand for forty rather
than pass in front of him.” Abu’l-Nadar – one of the narrators – said: I do not
know whether he said forty days or months or years. Narrated by al-Bukhaari,
510; Muslim, 507 – from Abu Juhaym (may Allaah be pleased with him).
In this
case it makes no difference whether the person has a sutrah (object to serve as
a screen) or not.
2 – If he
passes in the area that is beyond
the place where he prostrates. Two scenarios may apply in this
case:
(i)- If the
one who is praying has set up a sutrah (object to serve as a screen). In this
case it is permissible to pass beyond the sutrah, because the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you prays, let him
face towards something. If he cannot find anything, then let him set up a
stick. If he cannot do that, then let him draw a line, then it will not matter
if anyone passes in front of him.”
Narrated by Ahmad,
3/15; Ibn Maajah, 3063; Ibn Hibbaan, 2361. Ibn Hajar said in al-Buloogh, 249:
And it was narrated that Talhah
(may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If one of you puts something in front
of him that is like the back of a saddle, then let him pray and not worry about
anyone who passes beyond that.” Narrated by Muslim, 499.
(ii)-If the
one who is praying has not set up a sutrah, he has no more than the space in
which he prostrates. This is the most correct scholarly opinion. It is
permissible for the one who wants to pass in front of him to pass in the space beyond where he prostrates.
That is because the prohibition mentioned in the hadeeth applies to passing in
front of the one who is praying, and what is beyond the place where he
prostrates is not counted as being in front of the one who is praying.
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, after mentioning the
differences of scholarly opinion concerning the distance within which the
worshipper should stop anyone from passing in front of him:
The most correct opinion is that it is the distance
between his feet and the place where he prostrates. That is
because the one who is praying has no right to anything more than what he needs
for his prayer. So he does not have the right to prevent the people from (using
space) that he does not need.
Al-Sharh
al-Mumti’, 3/340.
All of this has to do with one
who is praying alone or is leading others in prayer. If he is a member of a
congregation, then the sutrah of the imam is the sutrah for those who are
behind him.
Al-Bukhaari
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Baab sutrat al-imam sutrah li man khalfahu
(the sutrah of the imam is the sutrah of those who are behind him).
Other then the above, the very basic manners are to switch off our cellphones and observe silence.
And ALLAH knows best. May Allah
give us the power and focus to learn the correct ways and may we help each
other and not judge each other. Ameen.
Note: The above information was taken from https://islamqa.info/en/answers/26182/passing-in-front-of-someone-who-is-praying
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