When the one who joins the prayer late stands up to complete his prayer, is he required to place a barrier in front of him so that no one passes between him and the qiblah?
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The questioner : O Shaykh, regarding the issue of when the one who joins the prayer late stands up to complete his prayer, is he required to place a barrier? And if one of them passes in front of him, is he required to have a barrier?
The Shaykh : ... I may not have heard ... please repeat it for me.
The questioner : Shaykh - may Allah preserve you -, when the one who joins the prayer late stands up to perform what he missed of the prayer, is he required to place a barrier? This is ... the first ... O Shaykh, is he required to push away anyone who passes in front of him?
The Shaykh : We say: It is not required of him, and it may be required of him. It is not required of him in the sense that he is still under the ruling of the one following the imam whom he had joined partway through the prayer. It is required of him to place a barrier if it is close to him and does not require much effort on his part. Let us suppose, for example, that he is praying facing the qiblah, and there is a pillar nearby; if he takes a step or two to the right or left, he would be covered by a barrier. In this way, a person can imagine many scenarios. So, if placing a barrier while completing his prayer does not require him to do something not prescribed by the Shari'ah, then he may do so, especially if he is exposed to someone passing in front of him, particularly if the one passing in front of him is of the type that invalidates the prayer, as stated in the authentic hadith, which is well known.
Another questioner : ... .
...
The Shaykh : In fact, I said earlier that, meaning that one who joins the prayer late, if he is able to cover himself again without burden and without much effort, that is better for him, so that his mind is not distracted by what may pass in front of him. But I do not have definitive knowledge that this one who joined the prayer late ... and did not pray facing a new barrier, and one of the three types passed in front of him:Sunan Ibn Majah 952Sahih (Darussalam) ; so, is his prayer invalid or not?
The Shaykh : 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 most cautious course is to place a barrier to avoid the difference of opinion. Placing a barrier, even in this case, is not something that anyone would say exposes his prayer to defect or invalidity. Whereas, according to the authentic hadith I referred to earlier, if the imam's previous barrier is no longer practically a barrier in front of him; no ... and there is no barrier taking the place of the imam's barrier, then, as a precaution at least, we say: He should engage in some actions that do not expose his prayer to defect, in order to preserve it from a defect that may occur. And we know that it is established in the Sunnah: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying ... a goat came running, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) chased it until he pressed his belly against the wall, and made it pass behind him." So, without doubt, this involves some movements, some steps, in order to prevent this goat 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, then here the person strives ... with the previous condition. This is what I have, and Allah knows best.
The questioner : And if he does not expect anyone to pass ...?
The Shaykh : It remains here ... as we referred to in my previous speech, we have two types of passing; passing that invalidates the prayer ..., and passing that invalidates part of the etiquette of the prayer and its value. 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 "shaytan" (devil), as understood from the general usage, as is clear to you, is the shaytan of the jinn, even though it includes the shaytan of humans, but the first meaning is actually ... people are heedless of it; 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 one of those whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described in His saying: [Al-A'raf 7:27] may pass in front of him. Therefore, it is obligatory to place a barrier, even if he has estimated the size of the prayer; because there is a shaytan who has the authority and power to enter and exit in a way that the sons of Adam cannot do, especially since it came in "Sahih Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing praying with his companions one day, and they saw him troubled as if he was turning over something, so they asked him after he finished the prayer? He said: "That was a shaytan who tried to throw sparks of fire at me or something like that."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... So, if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) could be exposed to the shaytan and for it to pass in front of his prayer; what about us, the general people? It is even more necessary for us to adopt this lawful means. I called this a lawful means to refute the statement of some people that no one passes; so, there is a realm of the unseen that we do not see, and the Messenger commands us to pray facing a barrier, whether, for example, you were in a room, or in the mosque, or in the open; all of this falls under the generality of this hadith.
The Shaykh : I know that I read in the early days of my scholarly life, and according to the Hanafi school, that they said: If a mosque is forty cubits by forty cubits ... to the barrier, 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, all ... the Messenger (peace be upon him) ... praying in a mosque or elsewhere, and then he ... the mosque at a limited distance or otherwise; therefore, the hadiths should be applied in their comprehensiveness and generality. This is what I have.
The Shaykh : ... I may not have heard ... please repeat it for me.
The questioner : Shaykh - may Allah preserve you -, when the one who joins the prayer late stands up to perform what he missed of the prayer, is he required to place a barrier? This is ... the first ... O Shaykh, is he required to push away anyone who passes in front of him?
The Shaykh : We say: It is not required of him, and it may be required of him. It is not required of him in the sense that he is still under the ruling of the one following the imam whom he had joined partway through the prayer. It is required of him to place a barrier if it is close to him and does not require much effort on his part. Let us suppose, for example, that he is praying facing the qiblah, and there is a pillar nearby; if he takes a step or two to the right or left, he would be covered by a barrier. In this way, a person can imagine many scenarios. So, if placing a barrier while completing his prayer does not require him to do something not prescribed by the Shari'ah, then he may do so, especially if he is exposed to someone passing in front of him, particularly if the one passing in front of him is of the type that invalidates the prayer, as stated in the authentic hadith, which is well known.
Another questioner : ... .
...
The Shaykh : In fact, I said earlier that, meaning that one who joins the prayer late, if he is able to cover himself again without burden and without much effort, that is better for him, so that his mind is not distracted by what may pass in front of him. But I do not have definitive knowledge that this one who joined the prayer late ... and did not pray facing a new barrier, and one of the three types passed in front of him:
a woman, a donkey, and a black dog
المرأة ، والحمار ، والكلب الأسودThe Shaykh : 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 most cautious course is to place a barrier to avoid the difference of opinion. Placing a barrier, even in this case, is not something that anyone would say exposes his prayer to defect or invalidity. Whereas, according to the authentic hadith I referred to earlier, if the imam's previous barrier is no longer practically a barrier in front of him; no ... and there is no barrier taking the place of the imam's barrier, then, as a precaution at least, we say: He should engage in some actions that do not expose his prayer to defect, in order to preserve it from a defect that may occur. And we know that it is established in the Sunnah: "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying ... a goat came running, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) chased it until he pressed his belly against the wall, and made it pass behind him." So, without doubt, this involves some movements, some steps, in order to prevent this goat 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, then here the person strives ... with the previous condition. This is what I have, and Allah knows best.
The questioner : And if he does not expect anyone to pass ...?
The Shaykh : It remains here ... as we referred to in my previous speech, we have two types of passing; passing that invalidates the prayer ..., and passing that invalidates part of the etiquette of the prayer and its value. 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 فليصلِّ إلى سترةhe should keep close to it, and not let the devil interrupt his prayer
فَلْيَدْنُ من سترته ؛ لا يقطع الشيطان عليه صلاتهIndeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them
إِنَّهُ يَرَاكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لا تَرَوْنَهُمْThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... So, if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) could be exposed to the shaytan and for it to pass in front of his prayer; what about us, the general people? It is even more necessary for us to adopt this lawful means. I called this a lawful means to refute the statement of some people that no one passes; so, there is a realm of the unseen that we do not see, and the Messenger commands us to pray facing a barrier, whether, for example, you were in a room, or in the mosque, or in the open; all of this falls under the generality of this hadith.
The Shaykh : I know that I read in the early days of my scholarly life, and according to the Hanafi school, that they said: If a mosque is forty cubits by forty cubits ... to the barrier, 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, all ... the Messenger (peace be upon him) ... praying in a mosque or elsewhere, and then he ... the mosque at a limited distance or otherwise; therefore, the hadiths should be applied in their comprehensiveness and generality. This is what I have.
Source
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