The Shaykh’s reminder regarding the recommended practice of using a barrier for the one praying alone.
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The Shaykh : Indeed, among the most important things that are obligatory upon the people of knowledge and their students is engaging with the Sunnah, which clarifies the Book of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in all its rulings, and especially what is related to a pillar of Islam, and more specifically, what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to follow, as in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih al-Bukhari 6008. I observe in many of the countries that it has been decreed for me to travel through and attend their mosques, where I see the people praying, that they almost unanimously contradict the clear, authentic Sunnah in which there is no disagreement among scholars. Among these is what I have repeatedly pointed out many times during this visit, which I was granted the opportunity to make for the second time in this country, which, by the grace of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), remains the best of the lands of Islam in terms of its rulers and people preserving the majority of the rulings of the Islamic Shari'ah. However, some matters must slip through their fingers, and they must be reminded of them. The best thing to remind people of is not what the scholars have repeatedly reminded them of, but rather what we know that few of these people are reminded of. Therefore, I must now point out to you two matters that caught my attention in the reality I witnessed just now:
The first is that those who pray, for example, the voluntary prayer before Maghrib hardly know, or most of them do not know, anything in the Sunnah called: "the prayer barrier". You find the individual among them praying wherever it happens, far from the qiblah wall, even though the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in such a prayer, the Maghrib prayer, Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said, as in *Sahih al-Bukhari*::
The point is: they rush to the prayer behind the pillars for the Maghrib voluntary prayer. As for us today, in most of the countries I have entered, we hardly find except very few individuals, the remnants of those who have knowledge of the Sunnah. These people must either move forward to the qiblah wall and use it as a barrier, or use a pillar, the legs of a table, or something similar as a barrier. This is the obligation of every person who prays alone; he must have a barrier. This barrier protects him in all his circumstances from anything that might diminish the reward and virtue of his prayer. It may also protect his prayer from becoming invalid and defective, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated, or rather explicitly stated, in the hadith that Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said::
The point is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly states in this hadith that the prayer is invalidated by the passing of any of these three things in front of the one praying if he does not have in front of him something like the back of a saddle. However, if he has this barrier in front of him, then what passes in front of him does not harm him, because he has responded to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and adopted this barrier.
offer your prayers in the way you saw me offering my prayers
صلوا كما رأيتموني أُصليThe first is that those who pray, for example, the voluntary prayer before Maghrib hardly know, or most of them do not know, anything in the Sunnah called: "the prayer barrier". You find the individual among them praying wherever it happens, far from the qiblah wall, even though the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in such a prayer, the Maghrib prayer, Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said, as in *Sahih al-Bukhari*:
When the mu'adhdhin called for the Maghrib prayer and the one entering the mosque found the people praying, they would rush to the pillars and pray behind them the two rak'ahs of the Maghrib voluntary prayer.
كان المؤذن إذا أذن لصلاة المغرب ودخل الداخل إلى المسجد وجد الناس يصلون يبتدرون السواري يصلون خلفها ركعتي سنة المغربThe point is: they rush to the prayer behind the pillars for the Maghrib voluntary prayer. As for us today, in most of the countries I have entered, we hardly find except very few individuals, the remnants of those who have knowledge of the Sunnah. These people must either move forward to the qiblah wall and use it as a barrier, or use a pillar, the legs of a table, or something similar as a barrier. This is the obligation of every person who prays alone; he must have a barrier. This barrier protects him in all his circumstances from anything that might diminish the reward and virtue of his prayer. It may also protect his prayer from becoming invalid and defective, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated, or rather explicitly stated, in the hadith that Imam Muslim narrated in his *Sahih* from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said:
A woman, a donkey, and a black dog cut off the prayer of one of you if he does not have in front of him something like the back of a saddle. They said: What is the matter with the black dog? He said: It is a Shaytan.
يقطعُ صلاة أحدكم إذا لم يكن بين يديه مثل مُؤْخِرة الرَّحل المرأةُ والحمارُ والكلبُ الأسود، قالوا: ما بال الكلب الأسود؟ قال: إنه شيطانThe point is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly states in this hadith that the prayer is invalidated by the passing of any of these three things in front of the one praying if he does not have in front of him something like the back of a saddle. However, if he has this barrier in front of him, then what passes in front of him does not harm him, because he has responded to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and adopted this barrier.