Explaining the ruling on a person praying using a sutrah.

The Shaykh : As for praying facing a sutrah, this is part of the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the guidance of his Companions after him. This is because many of the people who pray today stand in the mosque and pray without a sutrah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and in another hadith: . Therefore, the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when the mu'adhdhin called the Maghrib adhan, would rush to pray the two rak'ahs before the obligatory Maghrib prayer, praying behind the pillars. Anas ibn Malik said—and this is a hadith in al-Bukhari—: , meaning: the pillars in the mosque. :
This is one of the sutrahs regarding which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded prayer facing it with strong emphasis. Some legal rulings were established based on this, including:
That sometimes, if one does not cover oneself with something like the back of a saddle—that is, something raised to the height of a shibr or two shibr—some person passing by may invalidate his prayer, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . Therefore, the people who pray, when they enter the mosque, should keep in mind praying facing a sutrah. They should not pray in the middle of the mosque, but rather move forward to the qiblah wall, or to a pillar, or to a pole, or to a table, or to any standing object in front of them, and pray facing it, in obedience to the specific command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that I mentioned earlier: , and in obedience to the general command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who used to say: . The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he prayed in his mosque, had between the place of his prostration and the wall a passage for a sheep, just enough for a sheep to pass through. That is, the distance between the place of his prostration (peace be upon him) on the ground and the sutrah or the wall in front of him was only the width of a shibr or two shibr, like this. This is his command (peace and blessings be upon him) to all people. You must revive this sunnah that the majority of the people who pray have let die, so that its reward is written for you, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .

The questioner : We remind our brothers that the Maghrib prayer is approaching. So whoever intends to prepare himself with wudu' should do so. We will continue until the time of the adhan, then we will pray and return after the prayer.