Is it permissible to pray in the Haram without a sutrah?

The questioner : The questioner asks: Is it permissible to pray in the Haram without a sutrah?

The Shaykh : His question, "Is it permissible to pray in the Haram without a sutrah?" implies that prayer outside the Haram is not permissible without a sutrah. This is not correct. Prayer without a sutrah is permissible in the Haram and outside the Haram. If a person prays without a sutrah, he is not sinful for doing so, and his prayer is not invalid. However, there is no doubt that it is better for a person to pray facing a sutrah, whether in the Haram or outside it. Among the chapter headings in al-Bukhari’s (may Allah have mercy on him) Sahih is "The Chapter on the Sutrah in Makkah and Elsewhere." There is no report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specifying Makkah in this ruling; that is, there is no report that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said that there is no sutrah in Makkah. The most that has been reported, though there is a discussion about it, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the tawaf. This hadith is weak; some scholars of knowledge have deemed it weak. But even if it were authentic, this would apply to the tawaf area. It is known that if people pass in front of someone praying there, they are excused, because the right belongs to them, for the tawaf area is for those performing tawaf. It is not permissible for anyone to pray in the tawaf area in a way that obstructs those performing tawaf, because that harms them. Allah the Exalted said: . When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man stepping over the necks of people while he was delivering the sermon, he said to him, "Sit down, for you have caused harm." So what about these ignorant people who pray in the place where people perform tawaf? In reality, they are encroaching on the rights of those performing tawaf. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, made the right of those performing tawaf in this mosque take precedence over the right of those praying, so He said: . He began with tawaf because it is specific to this place. So the place of those performing tawaf, whether near the Ka'bah or far, if they are circling, no one has the right to pray in it.
The important point is that the Sacred Mosque is like other mosques regarding the sutrah. It is not permissible for anyone to pass in front of a person who is praying, except if he is behind the imam, in which case there is no harm. But if he is not behind the imam, it is not permissible for him to pass in front of him, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): for he is a Shaytan. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Forty what? Forty minutes, forty days, forty weeks, forty months, forty years? Which one? Its specification came in a narration by al-Bazzar as "forty autumns," meaning forty years. That means if you stand for forty years until this person finishes his prayer, that would be better for you than passing in front of him. We say: Do not stand for forty years, my brother. Stand for forty minutes, and that is enough, because no one who prays in this mosque remains for forty minutes in a single prayer, unless Allah wills.