Is it permissible to stand up and leave if someone is performing a prayer behind you?

- Is it permissible to walk in front a person who is performing a prayer if there is no other place to pass?

Dear Brother / Sister,

If there is a person just behind you, you can leave.

If a person who is performing a prayer paves the way for others to walk in front of him and if a person walks in front of him though there is a large place to pass, both of them are regarded to have committed sins. However, if the person who is performing a prayer does not pave the way for others to walk in front of him and if a person walks in front of him because there is no other place to pass, they are not regarded to have committed sins. If one of them is wrong, that one becomes a sinner.  (see Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, Kitab al-Fiqh ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'a, translated by Mehmet Keskin, I/366).

It is permissible, not haram, to walk in front of a person in order to fill the gap in the ranks. Hanafis and Shafiis agree unanimously on it.

As a matter of fact, it is not haram for a person who is circumambulating the Kaaba to walk in front of the people who are performing prayers there.

- SUTRAH (in prayer)...

SUTRAH

Sutrah means curtain, cover, something to be screened, a barrier placed in front of a person who is performing a prayer to prevent others from walking in front of him when there is no wall or a similar thing in front of him in the direction of the qiblah. 

"If a person who is performing a prayer puts anything that is as tall as an archine (68 cm) or two-thirds of an archine in front of him, those who walk in front of it will not harm his prayer. In short, sutrah is the name of the thing that a person who is performing a prayer puts in front of him." (Abu Dawud, Sunan, N. Yeniel and H. Kayapınar translation, 3152; al-Manhal, V, 77)

The general definition of sutrah is as follows: something like a chair, stick and sofa placed in front of a person who is performing a prayer to prevent others from walking in front of him. Sutrah can be something fixed like a wall and column or something movable.

The Importance of Sutrah

The Messenger of Allah states the following:

"When one of you performs a prayer, let him pray before a sutrah and not allow anyone to walk in front of him."

Other hadiths regarding the issue are as follows:

"When one of you performs a prayer, let him approach the sutrah so that Satan will not interrupt his prayer." (Abu Dawud, Sunan, Salah, 698; Ibn Hibban, Sahih)

"It is better for one of you to wait for a hundred years than walking in front of your brother who is performing a prayer." (Kanzul-Ummal, VII, 355)

If a person who walked in front of person performing a prayer knew the sin he would get, he would want his leg to be broken instead of walking in front of him." (as-Sayyid Ali Fikri, Khulasatul-Kalam Fi Arkanil-Islam, 87)

The Conditions of Sutrah

a) Sutrah needs to be one zira' (45 cm) or longer. There is no condition for its thickness. It can be thin or thick. It is enough for it to be as thick as a pen.

b) Sutrah needs to be straight, not curved. It is not appropriate to use something curved as sutrah

c) The distance between sutrah and the person performing a prayer should be three ziras. (Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, Kitab al-Fiqh ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'a, translated by Mehmet Keskin, I, 364)

d) If a person finds a sutrah but cannot erect it because of the roughness of the ground (it may be rocky, etc.), it is permissible to put it on the ground lengthwise or crosswise. If a person cannot find anything to place as sutrah, he draws a line in the form of a crescent in front of him. (Abu Dawud, Sunan, Salah, 102/690)

e) It is permissible to use a person as sutrah. For instance, if a person sits in front of another person performing a prayer and faces the direction of the qiblah, it is permissible to perform the prayer using him as sutrah. If he faces the person performing a prayer, it is not permissible. The person sitting in front of him must not be an unbeliever or a woman. (Abu Dawud, Sunan, Salah, 702; Nasai, Qiblah, 7; Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, Kitab al-Fiqh ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'a, I, 364)

f) If a person finds something that has been grabbed (though grabbing is haram) or something dirty, it is permissible for him to use it as sutrah (A. Jaziri, ibid, Translation. I, 364)

g) It is necessary to stand close to sutrah.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated the following:

"When one of you performs a prayer, let him approach the sutrah so that Satan will not confuse him in prayer." (Ibn Majah, Iqamah, 39)

The Decree on Sutrah

It is mandub for a person performing a prayer to put something mentioned in the definition of sutrah in front of him.

The following is stated in a hadith:

According to what is reported from Ibn Umar, "When the Prophet (pbuh) went out to perform eid prayer, he would order a spear erected before him. After the spear is erected, he would turn toward it and perform the prayer. He would do the same thing when he was travelling. The caliphs also did the same thing." (Tirmidhi, Mawaqitus-Salah, 30)

If a person performing a prayer has not put a sutrah in front of him due to any reason, it is haram to walk in front of him. Similarly, it is haram for a person performing a prayer not to put a sutrah in front of him though he can.  (Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, ibid, I, 366)

Abu Ubayd, the vizier of Sulayman b. Abdilmalik, said: I saw Ata b. Yazid al-Laysi performing a prayer standing and wanted to walk in front of him. He stopped me. After finishing his prayer, he said,

“Abu Said al-Khudri told me that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,  

‘When one of you performs a prayer, he should try to prevent anyone from walking between him and the qiblah.’" (Abu Dawud, Sunan, Translation, III, 72)

If a person who is performing a prayer paves the way for others to walk in front of him and if a person walks in front of him though there is a large place to pass, both of them are regarded to have committed sins. However, if the person who is performing a prayer does not pave the way for others to walk in front of him and if a person walks in front of him because there is no other place to pass, they are not regarded to have committed sins. If one of them is wrong, that one becomes a sinner. (Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, ibid, I, 366)

It is permissible, not haram, to walk in front of a person in order to fill the gap in the ranks. Hanafis and Shafiis agree unanimously on it. As a matter of fact, it is not haram for a person who is circumambulating the Kaaba to walk in front of the people who are performing prayers there.

If a person performs a prayer in a large mosque or in a large open area, it is haram to walk between his feet and the place he prostrates on. If he performs a prayer in a small mosque, it is haram to walk between his feet and the qiblah wall. The distance is forty ziras.

It is not sunnah but permission for a person to stop a person trying to walk in front of him. In that case, it is possible to stop such a person with a gesture of the head and eyes or by saying "Subhanallah". It is not permissible to do more in Hanafi madhhab. A woman stops a person trying to walk in front of her by clapping her hands twice. (Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, ibid, I, 367-368)

The explanations above show how important sutrah is for both a person who performs a prayer and anyone who wants to walk in front of him. That is why the Messenger of Allah used a sutrah.

Abdülmelik ERDOĞAN

Questions on Islam