his brother while he is praying." The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has labeled the one who passes in front of a person praying as a devil (shaytan), and has commanded his being turned back and fought. It was narrated on the authority of Yazid ibn Nimran (3) who said: I saw a paralyzed man in Tabuk, and he said: "I passed in front of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) while I was on a donkey and he was praying, so he said: 'O Allah, cut off his tracks/legacy.' And I never walked upon them [the legs] after that." Recorded by Abu Dawud (4). In another wording he said: "He interrupted our prayer, may Allah cut off his tracks." If anyone intends to pass in front of a person praying, he has the right to prevent him, according to the opinion of most scholars; among them are Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Umar, and Salim. This is also the view of al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, and the People of Reason (Ahl al-Ra'y). I know of no disagreement regarding this. The original basis for this is what Abu Sa'id narrated, saying: I heard the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saying: "If one of you is praying facing something that screens him from the people, and someone wants to pass between him and it, let him push him away; if he refuses, let him fight him, for he is only a devil." Agreed upon (5). It was also recorded by Abu Dawud (6), and his version states: "If one of you is praying, let him not allow anyone to pass in front of him, and let him push him away as much as he can; if he refuses, let him fight him, for he is only a devil." Its meaning is: let him push him away. This [instruction] is for the first instance and does not exceed pushing him away; if he refuses and persists, let him fight him—meaning, use harshness (7) in preventing him from (8) passing—for he is a devil, meaning his action is the action of a devil, or that a devil is inciting him to do so. It has also been said that the meaning is that a devil is with him. Most of the narrations from Abu 'Abd Allah [Imam Ahmad] are that if the one passing in front of a person praying persists in passing and refuses to turn back, the person praying should be stern in pushing him away and strive to turn him back, as long as this does not lead him to invalidate his prayer by performing too many actions during it. It was also narrated from him that he said: "He should push him away as much as he can, and I dislike fighting during prayer." This is because of what it leads to in terms of discord (fitna) and the corruption of the prayer. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) only commanded turning him back and pushing him away to protect the prayer from that which diminishes it, so it is known that he did not intend for that which would corrupt and completely cut off the prayer; thus, the wording of "fighting" is interpreted as a more forceful pushing away than the first one. And Allah knows best. Umm Salama narrated: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was praying in the room of Umm Salama, and 'Abd Allah or 'Umar ibn Abi Salama passed in front of him, so he gestured with his hand and he turned back. Then Zaynab, daughter of Umm Salama, passed, and he gestured with his hand like this, and she proceeded. When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) finished praying, he said: "They are more overwhelming." Recorded by Ibn Majah (9). This indicates that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not exert himself in pushing [them] away.
Section: It is recommended to turn back whoever passes in front of him, whether an adult or a child, a human or an animal, due to what we have narrated regarding the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) turning back 'Umar and Zaynab while they were young. In the hadith of 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb, from his father, from his grandfather, [it is mentioned] that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prayed facing a wall, having taken it as a qibla while we were behind him. A young lamb came passing in front of him, and he kept pushing it away until his belly pressed against the wall, so it passed behind him (10).
= from the Book of Establishing Prayer, Sunan Ibn Majah 1/304, and Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 2/371, from the hadith of Abu Hurayra. (3) In [A] and [M]: "Nimran". He is Yazid ibn Nimran ibn Yazid al-Madhhiji, one of the trustworthy narrators (thiqat); he narrated from this paralyzed man who is mentioned later. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 11/365. (4) In: The Chapter on the sub-sections of what interrupts the prayer... etc., from the Book of Prayer, Sunan Abi Dawud 1/162. Also recorded by Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 4/64, 5/377. (5) Recorded by al-Bukhari, in: The Chapter of the person praying turning back whoever passes in front of him, from the Book of Prayer, Sahih al-Bukhari 1/135, 136. And Muslim, in: The Chapter on preventing one from passing in front of a person praying, from the Book of Prayer, Sahih Muslim 1/362, 363. And Abu Dawud, in: The Chapter on what the person praying is commanded to push away from the one passing in front of him, from the Book of Prayer, Sunan Abi Dawud 1/161. And al-Nasa'i, in: The Chapter on whoever exacted retribution and took his right without the ruler, 8/55, from the Book of Qasama, al-Mujtaba 8/55. And Ibn Majah, in: The Chapter on pushing away as much as you can, from the Book of Establishing Prayer, Sunan Ibn Majah 1/307. And al-Darimi, in: The Chapter on the person praying getting close to the sutra, from the Book of Prayer, Sunan al-Darimi 1/328. And Imam Malik, in: The Chapter on the severity of one passing in front of a person praying, from the Book of Travel, al-Muwatta 1/154. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 3/34, 43, 44, 49, 57, 63. (6) In the chapter previously mentioned.
