The ruling on closing the eyes in prayer

Question : If a person closes his eyes so that he does not see anything, is this permissible or not?

Answer : The correct view is that it is disliked; the correct view is that it is disliked, because it resembles the action of the Zoroastrians when they worship the fire, where they close their eyes. It is also said that it is an action of the Jews. Imitating non-Muslims is, at the very least, forbidden, as Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said. Therefore, closing the eyes in prayer is disliked, at the very least, unless there is a reason, such as if there is something around him that would distract him if he opened his eyes. In that case, he closes his eyes to avoid this harm.