Does the imam's sutrah remain for the ma'mum after the taslim?

The questioner : Regarding walking during the prayer

The Shaykh : Walking during the prayer

The questioner : In order to place a sutrah in front of him,

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : What is its ruling?

The Shaykh : It is permissible, otherwise it is not permissible

The questioner : It is permissible, otherwise it is not permissible

The Shaykh : Naturally, I understand from your question, even if it is not explicit in that regard, that you are asking about the masbuq, not about the one who resumed the prayer, but about the masbuq. Therefore, I say that this masbuq has a situation that differs from another. If the sutrah... we have an expression in Syria, "we hit it with a high hand." I mean, to clarify the matter, for example, here is the qiblah, and he was in the first row, and the imam said the taslim, and there was one or two steps between him and the sutrah, that is fine. The second picture is a man at the back of the mosque; when the imam said the taslim and the people stood up, this man walks step by step, one and a half or two steps, and ends up with the sutrah. That one has to walk as if he is walking in the street. We tell him: stay in your place. Why did I use the "high hand" expression? Because the poet does not say, "And by its opposite, things are clarified." So we brought you a close, acceptable example, and a distant, unpalatable example. Between them are many examples and pictures. The criterion in that is that this praying man who was a masbuq, if he stays in his place, he is in the ruling of the one following the imam, meaning as if the imam were still in prayer. So he is in the ruling of the ma'mum. If he stays in his place, even at the back of the mosque, he bears no responsibility. But now, let me give you a question regarding the one who was at the back of the mosque. If he walks like this, a step to the right or left, and a pillar ends up in front of him, do you understand? So for the one at the back of the mosque, it is said: if he stays in his place, or if this is the case, he is not held accountable. Why? Because he is still in the ruling of the one following the imam, and the imam's sutrah is the sutrah for those behind him. Are we clear up to here?

The questioner : Is that clear?

The Shaykh : But why did the Wise Lawgiver, through the tongue of His Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), prescribe the sutrah? For a cause explicitly stated in the authentic hadith, which is His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): So now, whoever is far from the sutrah, there is a possibility that someone will come and cut off his prayer. Whether it is from the devils of mankind who can be repelled, or from the devils of the jinn who cannot be repelled, because humans do not see them. Is that clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So, for the sake of adopting this Shari'ah means to keep the devils of mankind and jinn away from this praying man, we do not see any obstacle to his advancing these steps that do not invalidate his prayer. Excessive walking, meaning, is that also clear up to here?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : The closest one, and perhaps the last point, is if the praying man is praying behind the imam, in the first or second row, and he is the sutrah for all the praying men, and someone wants to pass in front of the row, it is not permissible to apply the Shari'ah ruling. What did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) say? What? . So he is a devil. So if someone passes in front of the row of the one following the imam, he does not have this right. Because the imam is his sutrah, are we clear? Now we return to your friend, the one who was a masbuq and a man wanted to pass in front of him. Does he prevent him or not? He prevents him. Why? Because the one who actually performs the function of the sutrah is the imam. Correctly, in terms of the Shari'ah ruling, his ruling is clear. But in terms of his practical ruling, he no longer has any function because he has turned away from the prayer. So he has the right to repel this person who wants to pass in front of him. For this repelling to be permissible for him, he must be holding the white flag. The white flag signifies that he is safe from anyone passing in front of him. So if he has raised this flag, and the flag is the sutrah here, then if a person wants to pass, he has the right to repel him. But if he did not adopt this flag, did not place this marker, then he does not have the right to repel him. And so the importance of staying in place appears to be greater and much, much greater. The importance of the sutrah is that it preserves the prayer of the praying man from invalidation by one of the three means: a woman, a donkey, and a black dog. If a black dog passed in front of him while he was praying facing a sutrah, his prayer is valid. If he was not praying facing a sutrah, his prayer is invalid. If a donkey passed in front of him, does his prayer become invalid? The answer is: if he was praying facing a sutrah, no. And if he was praying not facing a sutrah, yes, his prayer is invalid. We come finally to an adult woman—Abu Layla : meaning, no problem—an adult woman passed in front of him while he was praying facing a sutrah. What do you think? Does he hit her like this on her breast and prevent her? The answer is no. This is a barrier between him and the invalidation of his prayer. But if there was no sutrah, his prayer is invalidated, as it is said, automatically. His prayer is invalidated. So this sutrah has a great and very great importance. Many people say, "My brother, I am praying in a place where there is no one." And this person is ignorant, the most ignorant of ignorance. Because in the place where he says there is no one, and as we say in Syria, before we come to your side, a person, a boy, an animal, whatever it is, enters and passes in front of him. And the one who said there was no one, now there is someone. But what do you think? It is possible that there is someone, and he does not see him. And that is what our Lord said in the Noble Qur'an: So the sutrah is not just for dealing with what is seen, but also for dealing with what is not seen. And therefore, one should pay attention to placing the sutrah in front of the praying man. But for every rule, there are exceptions. If the man is far from the sutrah, and it requires him to make many movements such that if one looked at him, one would say, "This man is not praying," then he must stay in his place, and he is still in the ruling of what? The one following the imam. But if he prayed alone, the sunnah or the fard, and he was negligent regarding the sutrah, then he must bear the responsibility of this negligence and not walk unless it is a walking that is permissible for him to do. Even if his request was for the sutrah. Perhaps the answer has become clear, if Allah wills.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Do you have anything else? Is there anyone who has a question regarding the topic?