Cross in front of one praying.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Assalamualiekum
vara wa.
I want to know that, in the mosque of Masjid-e-Nabiwee, many people are going
infornt of person who is performing namaz. It that right way that person can go
infornt of person who is performing namaz.
I think it is allow only in Makkah Sharif.
please guide me.
Khuda hafiz
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Cross in front of
one praying
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness
that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Abu Hurairah relates that the Prophet (saws)
said: "When one of you prays, he should place something in front of him
(as a sutra). If he cannot find
anything, he should prop up his staff [in front of him]. If he does not have a
staff, he should draw a line [on the ground in front of him] then nothing that
passes in front of him will harm him."
Related by Ahmad and Abu Dawud and Ibn
Hibban.
The responsibility of placing the sutra lies upon the one
who is offering the prayer, and he should place the ‘sutra’ a few inches or a
foot-or-two (maximum) beyond his place of prostration in prayer.
Busr ibn Sa'id
says that Zaid ibn Khalid sent him to Abu Juhaim to ask him what he had heard
from the Prophet (saws) concerning passing in front of someone who is praying.
He said that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "If one knew [the sin] of
passing in front of one who is praying, he would rather wait forty [...] than
to pass in front of him."
Related by Bukhari
and Muslim.
Ibn al-Qayyim
writes: "Jurists of the stature of Ibn Hibban and others are of the
opinion that the prohibition mentioned in the above hadith applies when one is
praying with a ‘sutrah’. If one is praying without a ‘sutrah’, it is not
forbidden to pass in front of him. As a proof, Ibn Hibban argues by the hadith,
in his sahih, from al-Mutalib ibn Abi Wid'ah who said: 'I saw the Prophet
(saws) when he (saws) finished the circumambulation [of the Ka'bah], he (saws)
went to the end of the circuit and he prayed two rak'at and there was nothing
between him and the people who were circumambulating." Ibn Hibban says:
"This report proves that it is permissible to pass in front of a person
who is praying but without a ‘sutrah’. In this lies a clear proof that the
warning concerning passing in front of one who is praying refers only to one
who is praying toward his sutrah and does not refer to one who does not have a
sutrah." Ibn Hibban further explains that the Prophet's (saws) prayer was
without anything between him and the people circumambulating the Ka'bah. At the
end of the hadith of al-Mutalib, he records: "I saw the Prophet of Allah
(saws) offering salah facing the Black Stone and the men and women were passing
in front of him, and there was no ‘sutrah’ between him and them.
The general practice of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) was that when praying in the open, he (saws) would
almost always place a ‘sutra’. In most
mosques today, the floors are carpeted or tiled, and there are clear lines
drawn to signify the rows which act as a natural ‘sutra’. Although one should strive their best to
avoid walking in front of one who is praying, if one were to pass two or three
meters in front of one who is praying, the vast majority of the scholars and
jurists in Islam are of the opinion that there is no harm.
But one who sincerely believes
in Allah and the Last Day must strive never to walk between a person who is in
the state of prayer and his place of prostration, while the person is engaged
in prayer.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan