The Ruling on Men and Women Praying Mixed in the Sacred Mosque, and the Ruling on the Prayer Screen Therein

Al-Hawini: What is the ruling on praying in the Sacred Mosque with men and women in close contact? And what is the ruling on the prayer screen therein?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is one of the matters in which some people are lax, whether they are men or women, and the common case is that the error lies with the women, not the men; for they move forward and mix with the men. It is well known that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: . In this hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) exhorts women to stay behind the men as long as there is space and the ground of the mosque is wide enough for them. If the women exceed their rows and move forward into the men’s rows, and as it was said long ago—“the rope and the reed got mixed up”—then the responsibility falls on the one who transgresses. If the transgressor is the woman, as is usually the case, then the sin is upon her. If the transgressor is the man, meaning he is the one who mixed with the women’s row or rows, then the sin is upon him.
As for the prayer, in both cases—whether the transgressor is the woman or the man—the prayer is valid. This is because there is nothing in the Sunnah, let alone the Book, nor in the Salafi reports by which we are guided in understanding the Book and the Sunnah—as we always mention—nothing in any of these indicates the invalidity of the prayer of one who is opposite a woman or of one whom a woman is opposite. There is nothing of this except a violation of the system of straightening the rows, the system you heard earlier in the hadith: . This violation entails sin and disobedience, but it does not entail the invalidity of the prayer; for invalidity is an independent ruling that requires specific evidence, and this is, to our knowledge, nonexistent. We say this while reminding that in some of the well-known schools of the people of the Sunnah today, if a woman stands—even if she is the transgressor!—if she is opposite a man, the man’s prayer is invalid! But this is merely an opinion, and there is no evidence for it in the Shari'ah. So it is sufficient for us to remind both men and women not to fall into sin and into violating the hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him), especially since they have all come out for Hajj to the House of Allah the Sacred. This Hajj benefits only the one who adheres to the rulings of the Shari'ah, as He (Mighty and Majestic) said in the Noble Qur'an: . And He (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified who adheres to this Qur'anic path by saying: . He (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified the virtue of this one who adheres to this path by saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . So the purpose of all pilgrims, men and women, old and young, when they intend Hajj, is that their ultimate goal behind it is to return to their countries as their mothers bore them, pious and pure from all sins and transgressions. Not that one of them returns to his country boasting that he performed Hajj to the House of Allah the Sacred, and acquired the title of pilgrim, so that people call him “Pilgrim So-and-So”!
Indeed, the one who seeks to obtain this title by means of Hajj is to be feared that he will return from his Hajj with the sandals of Hinnan, or as that Bedouin said to his companion when he returned from his Hajj: “You did not perform Hajj, but the camels performed Hajj.” So the purpose of Hajj is that the Muslim returns pious and pure, as we mentioned, and not honored with the title of pilgrim; for this is what invalidates the deed; for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: .
Al-Hawini: Regarding the prayer screen in the Sacred Mosque?

The Shaykh : As for the prayer screen, the matter of the prayer screen has become forgotten in all lands of Islam today, except for a very small portion of them. As for the Sacred Mosque, it has been draped in a garment that does not befit it, for this garment has abolished its legitimacy. Several hadiths have come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanding the one who prays to take a prayer screen in any place whatsoever, whether in the desert, in a building, in a mosque, or in a congregational mosque, even if it is the Sacred Mosque. First, the hadiths came in an absolute or general form. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said in some of them: . Earlier, when I came out of my tent to pray, I saw some of them praying without a prayer screen. The prayer screen is any pillar, and even if there is a person sitting, the one who prays can take him as a prayer screen; he prays facing this person. His saying (peace be upon him): . Why? The answer comes immediately: lest Satan cut off his prayer; meaning: lest Satan not cut off his prayer. This means that there are legitimate means that the human mind cannot grasp the effect of. These means prevent the one who prays from being exposed to Satan interfering with his prayer, at least, or invalidating it from the root. So we hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying in this hadith, commanding every one who prays to pray facing a prayer screen. Here is another etiquette whose explanation came in another narration, and one should be aware of it; namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . The first hadith, or the first narration, was: .
But a person might ask: If I pray here and the prayer screen is there, is this a prayer screen? The answer is in the second narration: . So one must be close to it. And this closeness was also explained in the Sunnah. Thus, the Sunnah completes one part of it with another. Does the one who prays approach the prayer screen such that he almost touches the prayer screen in front of him with his head, or must there be a space and gap between his head and his prayer screen? The answer: Yes, there must be the passage of a sheep between the place of prostration of the one who prays and the prayer screen. It came in the hadith: “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had between his place of prayer—meaning: his place of prostration—and the prayer screen the passage of a sheep.” So one does not distance oneself from it, nor approach it such that one almost rams it with one’s head. No, but one makes the passage of a sheep between oneself and it, approximately a span or close to a span.
The importance of this prayer screen, as will become apparent to you, appears in the Sacred Mosque, due to the frequent trial of the worshippers by those passing in front of them, and especially the passing of women. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So the prayer screen has two functions. The first function is general, and it is that it prevents Satan from exposing the prayer of this one who prays behind the prayer screen to some deficiency. The other importance is that this prayer screen prevents the one who prays from the invalidity of his prayer if one of the three things passes in front of him: a woman, a donkey, or a black dog. But if he is praying facing a prayer screen, then what passes in front of him does not harm him afterward, whether it is one of these three types or something else. As for the one who prays without a prayer screen—even in the Sacred Mosque!—his prayer is exposed to deficiency or invalidity according to the type that passes in front of the one who prays.
This is what we should mention on the occasion of the prayer screen, and that it is obligatory in every mosque, even the Sacred Mosque. Therefore, some of the Salaf, when they prayed in the Sacred Mosque, would place a prayer screen in front of them. Among them was 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), as I mentioned that and similar to it in my book “Warning the Prostrator from Taking Graves as Mosques.”
Yes.