a man who had interlocked his fingers in prayer, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spread his fingers apart. Ibn Umar said regarding the one who prays while interlocking his hands: That is the prayer of those who have earned [Allah's] anger. It is disliked to crack one's fingers, because Ibn Majah (69) narrated from Ali that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Do not crack (70) your fingers while you are in prayer." It is disliked to lean on one's hand while sitting in prayer; because it is narrated from Ibn Umar that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade a man from sitting in prayer while leaning on his hand. (71) It is disliked to smooth the pebbles; because Ahmad narrated in "al-Musnad" (72) from Abu Dharr that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When one of you stands for prayer, mercy faces him, so do not smooth the pebbles." From Mu'ayqib, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said regarding smoothing the pebbles in prayer: "If you must do it, then [only] once." Narrated by Muslim (73), and both of them were narrated by Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud (74). All forms of idle play (abath) are disliked, as is everything that distracts from prayer and removes its khushu (humility).
(69) In: The Chapter of What is Disliked in Prayer, from the Book of Establishing Prayer. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/310. (70) In [Manuscript] M: "Tafrqa'" (to crackle). What is established in the [Original] text and Sunan Ibn Majah is "Tufaqqi'" (to crack). (71) Extracted by Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter of Disliking Leaning on the Hand in Prayer, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/227. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 2/147. (72) On pages 150, 163, 179 of the fifth volume. It was also extracted by Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/217. And al-Tirmidhi, in: The Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding the Dislike of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer, from the Chapters of Prayer. Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/171. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter of the Prohibition of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer. Al-Mujtaba 3/7. And Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer, from the Book of Establishing Prayer. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/328. And al-Darimi, in: The Chapter of the Prohibition of Smoothing Pebbles, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan al-Darimi 1/322. (73) In: The Chapter of Disliking Smoothing Pebbles and Leveling the Earth in Prayer, from the Book of Mosques 1/387, 388. (74) The first citation was mentioned previously. The second was extracted by Ibn Majah, in the same chapter, page 327. And Abu Dawud, in the same chapter. It was also extracted by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer, from the Book of Actions in Prayer. Sahih al-Bukhari 2/80. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter of the Concession to Smooth Pebbles Once, from the Book of Forgetfulness. Al-Mujtaba 3/7. And al-Tirmidhi, in: The Chapter of What Has Been Said Regarding the Dislike of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer, from the Chapters of Prayer. Aridat al-Ahwadhi 2/172. And Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter of Smoothing Pebbles in Prayer, from the Book of Establishing Prayer. Sunan Ibn Majah 1/327. And al-Darimi, in: The Chapter of the Prohibition of Smoothing Pebbles, from the Book of Prayer. Sunan al-Darimi 1/322. And Imam = Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 5/425.
