What is the ruling on a sutrah for the one who prays?

The questioner : I hope you will clarify for us the matter of the praying person taking a sutrah for himself, regarding this issue.

Another questioner : Is it obligatory?

The Shaykh : The truth is that the matter of the sutrah is among the recommended practices, indeed among the obligatory duties that the general public of worshippers have neglected, without excluding the imams of the mosques, let alone those below them. This is because there are authentic hadiths regarding the sutrah from the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and from his words. As for his actions, many hadiths have come regarding it in various forms. In Sahih al-Bukhari, from the hadith of Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi, it is stated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had a space between him and his place of prayer—that is, the location of his sutrah—equal to the passage of a sheep. Then, in some hadiths, it is mentioned that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would sometimes pray facing a tree, which I believe was during the Battle of Badr. Sometimes he would take the saddle of his camel, adjust it, and pray facing it. This is what is established from his actions. As for what is established from his words, it is more important, because in the principles of jurisprudence, an action indicates the legitimacy of the thing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did, but it does not indicate the specific ruling: is it obligatory? Is it mandatory? Is it a recommended practice or a recommended act? However, when the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the sutrah comes from one side, and then important rulings are attached to its presence, at that point his words (peace and blessings be upon him) are more important in terms of indicating the legal ruling. For example, he says: . In another hadith: .
The first hadith is an absolute command regarding the sutrah. The second hadith is a command to get close to it, because it does not benefit the Muslim to pray, for example, in a wide mosque with meters between him and the wall. He should get close to the sutrah due to the command of the Messenger in the second hadith. The limit of closeness is clarified in the first hadith, which is in Sahih al-Bukhari, as we mentioned earlier, that the space between him and the sutrah was the passage of a sheep. Then another hadith came that emphasizes the extreme importance of the sutrah, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . They said, "What is the matter with the black dog, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: . Here is a ruling: . The back of the saddle is something like a stick, about one and a half or two shibr (hand spans), serving as a backrest for the rider. If a man is praying, especially in some mosques that are crowded, like Mecca and Medina, and a woman passes in front of him—most of the worshippers, pilgrims, and those performing 'Umrah are like that—it is as if a bird passed in front of him! Even though the prayer is invalidated, . The woman referred to here is a menstruating woman who has reached puberty, and the term "menstruating" does not mean someone who is currently in a state of menstruation, because the praying person will not be able to verify this! [The Shaykh laughs!]

The questioner : She will not enter the mosque!

The Shaykh : No, she may enter the mosque, but this condition is also extremely important from a jurisprudential perspective, because if a small girl passes by, she does not cut off the prayer. Therefore, he said "menstruating," meaning an adult. So, if a black dog runs past, what can a person do in this situation? Absolutely nothing; he cannot apply an authentic hadith. This also reminds us of the benefit of the sutrah. Many people know that when a person stands to pray, it is not permissible for anyone to pass in front of him. So, when the worshipper stands to pray and feels—and this happens to all of you, especially on Friday—that a person is about to pass in front of him, he does this gesture. This is the one who wants to prevent the passer from passing in front of him. It is not permissible for him to do so unless he has placed a sutrah. These are among the rulings of the sutrah. Where did these rulings go? They are in historical news, in news of the past. Why? Because Muslims turned away from studying the Sunnah of the Master of the Messengers. For that reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So you find that people today enter the mosque however they please, in every... people are in control, Allahu Akbar, I say.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I am not telling you, the important thing is that all of this is negligence of the remembrance of Allah. Because the truth is that the remembrance of Allah, and I think you know this, is sometimes verbal and heart-based together, and sometimes it is heart-based only. When you see a woman and her beauty pleases you, you lower your gaze from her. You do not do that except because you remembered your Lord. Otherwise, you would have looked a second and third time, and so on. When you enter the mosque and extend your right hand, you are remembering Allah. And conversely, when you exit the mosque and extend your left leg, you are remembering Allah. But does everyone who enters the mosque to pray remember Allah when he enters? Very few, unfortunately. And so, he enters the mosque wanting to pray the greeting of the mosque, which is fine, even though many people may also neglect this. He prays the recommended prayer of the time, for example, and it does not occur to him, due to the intense negligence and ignorance controlling people, that he should at least combine two intentions with one action. So that when he is credited with ten good deeds for the pre-prayer recommended prayer, for example, the least that is written for the act of worship is that he is credited with an additional hundred instead of ten, making it eleven. And it may be a hundred instead of ten, and seven hundred instead of a hundred, as came in the authentic hadith: . It does not occur to him to earn this easily, without any effort or exertion, except for the effort of gathering his mind and intellect and connecting it with his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). So, when a person enters this mosque and wants to pray, he thinks that the Messenger commanded him to pray facing a sutrah. He thinks that the Messenger of Allah commanded him to get close to the sutrah. He thinks that something may pass in front of him and cut off his prayer.
And due to the people's intense negligence of these legal issues, we are often asked: "Brother, there is no one in the mosque, there is no one in the house; who is going to pass by?" We tell him: Satan passes by, whom you do not see, who tried to cut off... When the Messenger of Allah wanted Satan to pass in front of him, he grabbed him and almost strangled him. When they asked him, he mentioned that to them until he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: وجدْتُ بردَ لُعابِه في يدي ، ولولا دعاء سليمان - عليه السلام - : رَبِّ [ اغْفِرْ لِي وَ ] هَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لَا يَنْبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي لربطْتُه بسارية من سواري هذا المسجد حتى يلعب به صبيان أهل المدينة I found the coolness of his saliva in my hand, and had it not been for the supplication of Sulayman (peace be upon him): “My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that will not belong to anyone after me,” I would have tied him to one of the pillars of this mosque until the boys of the people of al-Madinah would play with him.. So that was the Messenger of Allah, who could see Satan when he wanted to pass and grab him with his hand. We, first of all, do not have the visual ability to see Satan; therefore, we do not have the physical strength to overcome him. And truly and sincerely, what the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) surprised her one day and said to her: . She said: "And peace be upon him, O Messenger of Allah, you see what we do not see." That was Jibril; she did not see him. Jibril was in the room, and she did not see him. She does not see him, but you see what we do not see. So, out of faith in her Prophet and her husband, she said: "And peace be upon him, you see what we do not see." So we ask, who wants to pass by now? There is no one in the room! Allahu Akbar! If Satan runs through the son of Adam like blood, does he not run in front of you? Even more so.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Allah is the Helper.