What is the number of steps a latecomer should walk to reach the sutrah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A man was praying when the imam finished, and he was a latecomer in the congregation who had missed three rak'ahs of the midday prayer. When the imam finished, how many steps should he walk to take a sutrah?
The Shaykh : He should walk a few steps such that if he is seen, no one would say, "This man is not praying."
The questioner : And if he finds someone saying, "He is not praying, he walked too much?"
The Shaykh : We said he should not walk the number of steps that would lead a person outside the prayer to think he is not praying, because excessive movement is what invalidates the prayer.
The Shaykh : He should walk a few steps such that if he is seen, no one would say, "This man is not praying."
The questioner : And if he finds someone saying, "He is not praying, he walked too much?"
The Shaykh : We said he should not walk the number of steps that would lead a person outside the prayer to think he is not praying, because excessive movement is what invalidates the prayer.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.