What is the ruling on a prayer-worshipper taking a few steps to get closer to the sutrah?

The questioner : If you please, if a worshipper comes in behind the imam and the imam finishes the prayer, is he allowed to move forward to take a sutrah? What is permitted for him so that his prayer is not invalidated?

The Shaykh : What is permitted for him to move forward?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : It seems you are asking what the distance is?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : There is no specified distance mentioned in this issue, because this issue is based on independent legal reasoning and derivation, and there is no explicit text regarding it. In other words, when the one who joins the prayer late (masbuq) finishes the taslim of the imam, what does he do? Does he stay in his place without a sutrah, with the sutrah far from him, or does he try to take a new sutrah for himself? There is no explicit text on this; rather, as I mentioned earlier, this is a matter of derivation. For example, if a man argued with us and opposed us, saying, "My brother, I am the one who joined late, and I want to pray in my place, while you move forward and backward, to the right and left, and so on," this is something that has no basis in the Sunnah. We would say to him, "You are correct, it has no basis in the Sunnah." However, not everything that has no basis in the Sunnah lacks a ruling in the Shari'ah. Because the rulings of the Shari'ah include some that are explicitly stated. So when you say this has no basis in the Sunnah, you mean it is not explicitly stated. Therefore, we agree with you on this point. But it is possible for a person to exercise independent legal reasoning in some emerging matters and find a ruling for them that is as close to the truth as possible. From here, we proceed to say that if the one who joined late finishes the taslim of the imam and stands up to complete what he missed, if he is close to the sutrah, he moves toward it. Not because he does not pray facing a sutrah, but because he is still in the state of being covered, as he was a follower (ma'mum) of the imam. However, regarding others who might pass in front of him, here there is a legal ruling in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered us to fight whoever wants to pass in front of us while we are praying, and he ordered us to prevent them with our hands. If they refused, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . To apply this ruling, we now say that a sutrah is necessary. Since this issue is taken through derivation, as I am explaining now, it is not possible to say the distance is five meters or ten meters, or less than that or more. Rather, this is a matter that depends on this person who joined late and his estimation. If he estimates that if he walks a few steps he will reach the sutrah, and he does not expose himself to being said to not be praying because he walked a lot—and walking a lot is what invalidates the prayer—then in this case, he walks these steps and the matter is done. But if the distance is far and very far, such that it is more likely than not that if he starts walking, no one would say this person is praying, then at that time he exposes his prayer to invalidation. In short, no one should expect precise determinations in matters of independent legal reasoning like this. Rather, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said as a general principle: . So if a person is praying here and the wall is here, he takes to the right or takes to the left, or walks two steps and covers himself with someone who is praying or sitting and remembering Allah, or something similar. And if he starts walking over there, he also walks two or three steps, stops for a while while he recites, then two or three steps, and so on, so that he does not fall into the prohibited thing we described earlier, which is that he is just walking and walking, and if the observer sees him, he says this person is not praying. This walking is what invalidates the prayer.

The questioner : In a second solution, for example, if he has a cap, can he place it?

The Shaykh : Of course, I tell you in answer to your question, it is possible, but it does not serve any purpose, because the sutrah must be at the height of the back of the saddle. The back of the saddle is one shibr, one and a half shibr, or two shibr, unless it is a cap of the dervishes, the dervishes, meaning... - laughsThe Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on him.

The questioner : The courts rule by other than what Allah has revealed.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : If a man is convinced in his mind that this right is being violated and cannot be obtained except through these courts, and in his view it is a right, whether it is a loan, wages, or something else, is it permissible? Especially since he knows that there are judges who are Christians and not Muslims, and that they may apply to this person rulings of...