If a person joins the prayer late and is unable to take a barrier because it is far from him, and something that invalidates the prayer passes in front of him, what is the ruling on his prayer?
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The Shaykh : In reality, I said earlier that if that person who joined late is able to take a barrier again without difficulty and without much effort, that is better for him, so that his mind is not preoccupied with the possibility of someone passing in front of him.
But I do not have definitive knowledge as to whether the prayer of this person who joined late is invalidated if he does not reach a new barrier and one of the three types passes in front of him: a woman, a donkey, or a black dog. Does his prayer become invalid or not?
I do not have an answer that I am convinced of, and one who does not have something cannot give it, but I say:
The safest course is to take a barrier to avoid the difference of opinion. Taking a barrier, even in this situation, is not something that anyone says will expose his prayer to defect or invalidity. On the other hand, according to the authentic hadith I referred to earlier, where the imam’s previous barrier is no longer in front of him because the imam has turned away, and there is no barrier standing in place of the imam’s barrier, as a precaution at the very least, we say: he should perform some actions that do not expose his prayer to defect, in order to preserve it from a defect that may befall it.
And we know that it is established in the Sunnah:, so this undoubtedly involves some movements and some steps in order to prevent this sheep from passing in front of him, even though it is not one of the three types that invalidate the prayer. So if he is in a place where he fears that one of these three things may pass, it is better for the person to strive to take a barrier, with the condition mentioned earlier. This is what I have, and Allah knows best.
The questioner : What if he does not expect anything that invalidates the prayer to pass?
The Shaykh : There remains here another issue we referred to in the previous hadith. We have two types of passing: passing that invalidates the prayer, which was mentioned earlier, and passing that invalidates a part of the measure and value of the prayer. Regarding this second type, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 954Sahih (Darussalam), and in another hadith: Sunan Abi Dawud 695Sahih (Al-Albani). Here, the word: , the most apparent meaning of the general term, as is not hidden from you, is the devil of the jinn. Although the devil of humans may be included in it, the first meaning is, in truth, something people are heedless of in my personal experience. Either because they did not know this hadith, or they heard of it and it went in one ear and out the other. So they do not keep in mind that when one of them stands to pray, it is possible that what Allah the Exalted described in His saying: [Al-A'raf 7:27] may pass in front of him. Therefore, it is obligatory to take a barrier, even if one is in a prayer place the size of the prayer itself, because there is a devil who has the power and strength to enter and exit that a human cannot prevent, especially since it came in *Sahih Muslim*: .
So if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) could have a devil slip past him and pass in front of his prayer, what about us, the general people? It is better for us to adopt this lawful means. I said that this means is a lawful means to refute the claim of some people that no one passes. So there is a realm of the unseen that we do not see. The Messenger ordered us to pray facing a barrier without saying, for example, "if you are in a room" or "if you are in a mosque" or "if you are in the open." All of this falls under the generality of this hadith. I know that I read in the early days of my scholarly life, and according to the Hanafi school, that they said: "If the mosque is forty cubits by forty cubits, there is no need for a barrier in it". But later I learned that the hadiths commanding the barrier and emphasizing this command, and which in some cases ruled the invalidity of the prayer by the passing of those types mentioned, are all general and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not restrict them to the place where the worshipper prays, whether a mosque or otherwise. Then he did not restrict the mosque to a specific distance or otherwise. Therefore, the hadiths should be applied in their comprehensiveness and generality. This is what I have.
But I do not have definitive knowledge as to whether the prayer of this person who joined late is invalidated if he does not reach a new barrier and one of the three types passes in front of him: a woman, a donkey, or a black dog. Does his prayer become invalid or not?
I do not have an answer that I am convinced of, and one who does not have something cannot give it, but I say:
The safest course is to take a barrier to avoid the difference of opinion. Taking a barrier, even in this situation, is not something that anyone says will expose his prayer to defect or invalidity. On the other hand, according to the authentic hadith I referred to earlier, where the imam’s previous barrier is no longer in front of him because the imam has turned away, and there is no barrier standing in place of the imam’s barrier, as a precaution at the very least, we say: he should perform some actions that do not expose his prayer to defect, in order to preserve it from a defect that may befall it.
And we know that it is established in the Sunnah:
That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was praying one day when a sheep came running, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) chased it until he pressed his belly against the wall and let it pass behind him.
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم: كان يصلي يومًا حينما جاءت شاةٌ تسعى، فسعاها الرسول عليه السلام حتى ألصق بطنه بالجدار وجعلها تمر خلفهThe questioner : What if he does not expect anything that invalidates the prayer to pass?
The Shaykh : There remains here another issue we referred to in the previous hadith. We have two types of passing: passing that invalidates the prayer, which was mentioned earlier, and passing that invalidates a part of the measure and value of the prayer. Regarding this second type, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
When anyone of you performs prayer, let him pray facing towards a Sutrah
إذا صلى أحدكم فليصل إلى سترةhe should keep close to it, and not let the devil interrupt his prayer
فليدن مِن سترته لا يقطع الشيطان عليه صلاتهThe devil
الشيطانIndeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them
إنه يراكم هو وقبيله من حيث لا ترونهمThat the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was standing praying with his companions one day, and they saw as if he was grasping something. So they asked him after he finished the prayer. He said: "That was a devil who intended to throw sparks of fire at me."
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم كان قائمًا يصلي بأصحابه يومًا فرأوا كأنه يقبض على شيء، فسألوه بعد فراغه من الصلاة، قال: ذاك شيطان همَّ أن يرميني بشرر من نارSo if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) could have a devil slip past him and pass in front of his prayer, what about us, the general people? It is better for us to adopt this lawful means. I said that this means is a lawful means to refute the claim of some people that no one passes. So there is a realm of the unseen that we do not see. The Messenger ordered us to pray facing a barrier without saying, for example, "if you are in a room" or "if you are in a mosque" or "if you are in the open." All of this falls under the generality of this hadith. I know that I read in the early days of my scholarly life, and according to the Hanafi school, that they said: "If the mosque is forty cubits by forty cubits, there is no need for a barrier in it". But later I learned that the hadiths commanding the barrier and emphasizing this command, and which in some cases ruled the invalidity of the prayer by the passing of those types mentioned, are all general and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not restrict them to the place where the worshipper prays, whether a mosque or otherwise. Then he did not restrict the mosque to a specific distance or otherwise. Therefore, the hadiths should be applied in their comprehensiveness and generality. This is what I have.