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.
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.
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.
Chapter 258: Coming Close To The Sutrah - كتاب الصلاة
حَدَّثَنَا الْقَعْنَبِيُّ، وَالنُّفَيْلِيُّ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ بْنُ أَبِي حَازِمٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي أَبِي، عَنْ سَهْلٍ، قَالَ وَكَانَ بَيْنَ مُقَامِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَبَيْنَ الْقِبْلَةِ مَمَرُّ عَنْزٍ . قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ الْخَبَرُ لِلنُّفَيْلِيِّ .
Sahl said:
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.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying:
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.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying:
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.
I narrate what I witnesses from Abu Sa'id and heard from him. Abu Sa'id entered upon Marwan and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: When one of you prays facing any object which conceals him from people, and someone wishes to pass in front of him, he should strike him at his chest; if he refuses (to go), he should fight him; he is only a devil.
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."
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.
Hafs reported that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) as saying, and the other version of this tradition transmitted through a different chain has:
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.
I saw a crippled man at Tabuk. He (the man) said: I passed riding a donkey in front of the Prophet(ﷺ) who was praying. He said (cursing him): O Allah, cut off his walking. Thenceforth I could not walk.
This tradition as also been reported by Sa’id through the same chain of narrators and to the same effect. He added:
He cut off our prayer, may Allah cut off his walking.
Abu Dawud said: This version narrated by Mushir on the authority of Sa’id has: He cut off our prayer.
Sa’id b. Ghazwan reported on the authority of his father that he made his stay at Tabuk(during his journey) for performing Hajj. All of a sudden he saw a crippled man and asked him about his condition. He said:
I relate to you a tradition, but do not narrate it to anyone so long as I am alive: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) encamped at Tabuk near a date-palm and he said: This is our qiblah (direction for praying). He then offered prayer facing it. I came running, when I was a boy, until I passed the place between him and the tree. He said (cursing): He cut off our prayer, may Allah cut off his walking. I could not, therefore, stand upon them(feet) till today.
‘Amr b. Shu’aib reported from his father on the authority of his grand-father:
We came down from the mountain pass of Adhaakhir in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The time of prayer came and he prayed facing a direction of prayer, and we were (standing) behind him. Then a kid came and passed in front of him. He kept on stopping it until he brought his stomach near the wall (to detain it), and at last it passed behind him, or as Musaddad said.
I was sleeping in front of the Prophet (ﷺ) with my legs between him and the qiblah. Shu'bah said: I think she said: I was menstruating.
Abu Dawud said: This tradition has been narrated by al-Zuhri, 'Ata, Abu Bakr b. Hafs, Hisham b. 'Urwah, 'Irak b. Malik, Abu al-Aswad and Tamim b. Salamah; all transmitted from 'Urwah on the authority of 'Aishah. Ibrahim narrated from al-Aswad on the authority of 'Aishah. Abu al-Duha narrated from Masruq on the authority of 'Aishah. Al-Qasim b. Muhammad and Abu Salamah narrated it from 'Aisha. All these narrators did not mention the words "And I was menstruating."
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray at night and she (‘A’ishah) would lie between him and the qiblah, sleeping on the bed on which he would sleep. When he wanted to offer the witr prayer, he awakened her and she offered the witr prayer.
I used to sleep with my legs in front of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he would offer his prayer at night (i.e. tahajjud prayer offered towards the end of the night.). When he prostrated himself he struck my legs, and I drew them up and he then prostrated.
It was reported from Abu An-Nadr, from Abu Salama bin 'Abdur Rahman, from 'Aishah, that she said:
"I used to be asleep while my legs would be in the front of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) while he was praying during the night. When he wanted to prostrate, he would prod my feet, so I would pull them up, and he would prostrate.
Chapter 263: Whoever Said That the Woman Does Not Nullify The Prayer - كتاب الصلاة
حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بِشْرٍ، ح قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ وَحَدَّثَنَا الْقَعْنَبِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْعَزِيزِ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَهَذَا لَفْظُهُ - عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ كُنْتُ أَنَامُ وَأَنَا مُعْتَرِضَةٌ، فِي قِبْلَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَيُصَلِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَأَنَا أَمَامَهُ فَإِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يُوتِرَ . زَادَ عُثْمَانُ غَمَزَنِي ثُمَّ اتَّفَقَا فَقَالَ
" تَنَحَّىْ " .
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
I used to sleep lying between the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the qiblah. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to pray when I (was lying) in front of him. When he wanted to offer the witr prayer - added by the narrator Uthman - he pinched me - then the narrators are agreed - and said: Set aside.
I came riding a donkey. Another version has: Ibn Abbas said: When I was near the age of the puberty I came riding a she-ass and found the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) leading the people in prayer at Mina. I passed in front of a part of the row (of worshippers), and dismounting left my she-ass for grazing in the pasture, and I joined the row, and no one objected to that.
Abu Dawud said: These are the words of al-Qa'nabi, and are complete. Malik said: I take it as permissible at the time when the iqamah for prayer is pronounced.