Does the command regarding the obligation of using a sutrah (prayer barrier) shift to being merely recommended by the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari from Ibn Abbas (that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up...

The questioner : Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I came riding on a donkey, and I was of an age approaching puberty at that time, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing, leading the people in prayer in Mina during the Farewell Pilgrimage, facing something other than a wall. So the question is: Can it be said that this hadith indicates shifting the hadiths commanding the use of a sutrah from being obligatory to being recommended?

The Shaykh : No, this hadith does not indicate what was mentioned in the question regarding shifting the commands from being obligatory to being recommended, for two reasons. The first reason is that some hadiths explicitly state that the prayer is invalid if three types of things pass by, including a donkey, a mature woman, and a black dog. In that case, if we relied on this hadith, we would invalidate the hadiths, whereas it is possible to shift the hadiths commanding the use of a sutrah from being obligatory to being recommended. This question is applicable to this type of hadith, and although you will hear the answer, this question is not applicable to the hadith that says: . However, the fundamental answer regarding this hadith is that it denies that he prayed facing a wall; there were no walls in Mina. There might have been a rock protruding from the ground, which was part of the ground and raised to the height of a man’s backside, so this could have been the sutrah of the Messenger (peace be upon him), which the narrator did not witness. Therefore, this narration explicitly mentions the type of sutrah that was denied, which is the wall. Although some narrations state that he did not pray facing a sutrah, some of the narrations—and I see that Abu al-Harith was hesitant, meaning...—those narrations that appear to deny it absolutely are understood to mean the wall, as clarified by the previous narration. Finally, the definitive answer in this matter is that there is a great jurisprudential rule: when two hadiths come, one from his (peace be upon him) saying and the other from his action, and one contradicts the other, the saying is given precedence over the action, because the saying is a general legislation for the Ummah, whereas the action is subject to several possibilities, including that he (peace be upon him) had an excuse, or that it was a specific privilege for him. Meanwhile, the saying directed to the Ummah is a general law for the Ummah. In particular, the hadith that states a woman, a donkey, and a black dog invalidate the prayer cannot be invalidated merely because of this incident. Jurists of the Hanafi school say of such an incident: "It is a specific occurrence with no general application." We do not know what the reason is if we relied on some narrations that generalized the sutrah... Yes.

The questioner : Are these narrations authentic?

The Shaykh : I think they are authentic, but they are explained by the clarifying narration that he prayed facing something other than a wall. Did I clarify the answer?

The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good.