idle play (abath), and everything that distracts from prayer and removes its khushu (humility). It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw a man fidgeting in prayer and said: "If this man’s heart were humble, his limbs would be humble" (75). We are not aware of any disagreement among the scholars regarding the dislike of all of this. Among those who considered it disliked is al-Shafi'i. The dislike of some of these acts has been transmitted from Ibn Abbas, Aisha, Mujahid, al-Nakha'i, Abu Mijlaz, Malik, al-Awza'i, Ishaq, and the People of Reason (Ahl al-Ra'y). [It is disliked to press one of one's feet against the other while standing, because al-Athram narrated from 'Uyayna ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, who said: I was with my father in the mosque, and he saw a man praying who had lined up his feet and pressed one against the other. My father said: I have met eighteen men in this mosque from the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and I never saw any of them do that. Ibn Umar used to neither spread his feet wide nor touch one against the other, but rather [kept them] in between, neither close together nor far apart] (76). It is disliked (77) to close one's eyes in prayer. Ahmad explicitly stated this, saying: It is the practice of the Jews. Sufyan said the same, and it was narrated from Mujahid, al-Thawri, and al-Awza'i. It was narrated (78) from al-Hasan that it is permissible without being disliked. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When one of you stands for prayer, he should not close his eyes." It was narrated by al-Tabarani in his "Mu'jam" and by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim (79), who said: This is an unconfirmed (munkar) hadith. It is disliked for a man to frequently wipe his forehead during