What is the prescribed distance in front of the one praying that permits others to pass in front of him when there is no sutrah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Here, someone asks: What is the prescribed distance in front of the one praying that permits others to pass in front of him when there is no sutrah? The intent is inside the mosque.
The questioner must know that the ruling on passing, whether in the mosque or outside the mosque, and whether the mosque is large or small, whether it is forty cubits or less or more; it is not permissible to pass in front of the one praying. The intent of this prohibition on passing is passing between the one praying and the place of his prostration, between the one praying and the place of his prostration. That is, if the distance between his standing position and the place of his prostration is, for example, one meter, and the passerby passes behind that meter, this is not considered, by the Shari'ah, to have passed in front of the one praying. But if he passes within the range of these centimeters that make up a meter, wherever he passes, he is sinful; it is not permissible for him to pass.
And as I told you, there is no difference between the mosque and other places, no difference between a small mosque and a large mosque. What is mentioned in some books of the schools of jurisprudence is that if the mosque is smaller than forty by forty, then passing is prohibited in it, but if it is larger than that, there is no harm in it. This is among the rulings that were stated based on opinions and independent legal reasoning, for which they have not been able to bring, even to this day, any supporting evidence from the Sunnah, let alone from the Book.
So the distance from behind which the passerby may pass in front of the one praying is from behind the place of prostration. But the one praying must place a sutrah, and placing a sutrah does not mean that he must stake it in the ground; rather, he comes to it—for example, in the mosque he prays behind a pillar, he prays in front of the qiblah wall, he prays behind a chair; there are many, many means.
The questioner must know that the ruling on passing, whether in the mosque or outside the mosque, and whether the mosque is large or small, whether it is forty cubits or less or more; it is not permissible to pass in front of the one praying. The intent of this prohibition on passing is passing between the one praying and the place of his prostration, between the one praying and the place of his prostration. That is, if the distance between his standing position and the place of his prostration is, for example, one meter, and the passerby passes behind that meter, this is not considered, by the Shari'ah, to have passed in front of the one praying. But if he passes within the range of these centimeters that make up a meter, wherever he passes, he is sinful; it is not permissible for him to pass.
And as I told you, there is no difference between the mosque and other places, no difference between a small mosque and a large mosque. What is mentioned in some books of the schools of jurisprudence is that if the mosque is smaller than forty by forty, then passing is prohibited in it, but if it is larger than that, there is no harm in it. This is among the rulings that were stated based on opinions and independent legal reasoning, for which they have not been able to bring, even to this day, any supporting evidence from the Sunnah, let alone from the Book.
So the distance from behind which the passerby may pass in front of the one praying is from behind the place of prostration. But the one praying must place a sutrah, and placing a sutrah does not mean that he must stake it in the ground; rather, he comes to it—for example, in the mosque he prays behind a pillar, he prays in front of the qiblah wall, he prays behind a chair; there are many, many means.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.