If a woman passes in front of a woman during prayer, does it break her prayer? And how do we reconcile the hadith "It breaks the prayer of a man..." and its restriction to men?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you. Does a woman passing in front break a woman's prayer? And if the answer is yes, how do we reconcile the hadith of Abu Dharr in Muslim: which restricts it to men?
The Shaykh : A woman passing in front breaks a woman's prayer just as it breaks a man's prayer. The reconciliation of the hadith you mentioned is that rulings mentioned for men apply to women unless there is evidence to the contrary, and rulings established for women apply to men unless there is evidence to the contrary. This is the rule and the principle. So, if there is no explicit evidence indicating that a woman passing in front of a woman does not break the prayer, or a dog passing in front of a woman does not break the prayer, or a donkey passing in front does not break the prayer—and by dog I mean a black dog—then the correct view is that it is general for men and women. Restricting it to men is like many other texts that mention a ruling attached to men or attached to women, and the principle is that they are equal in rulings. Yes.
The Shaykh: I mean, someone might say: A woman passing in front of a woman does not break the prayer because a woman is not concerned with her sister, unlike a woman passing in front of a man. But the black dog and the donkey are brought up in response to this; there is no difference between men and women in that regard. So the correct view is that it is general for men and women, and that restricting it to men is like many other texts that mention a ruling attached to men or attached to women, and the principle is that they are equal in rulings. Yes.
The questioner : The "al" in "al-rajul" (the man)?
The Shaykh : The "al" in "al-rajul" is for the generic sense. Yes.
It breaks the prayer of the Muslim man
يقطع صلاة الرجل المسلمThe Shaykh : A woman passing in front breaks a woman's prayer just as it breaks a man's prayer. The reconciliation of the hadith you mentioned is that rulings mentioned for men apply to women unless there is evidence to the contrary, and rulings established for women apply to men unless there is evidence to the contrary. This is the rule and the principle. So, if there is no explicit evidence indicating that a woman passing in front of a woman does not break the prayer, or a dog passing in front of a woman does not break the prayer, or a donkey passing in front does not break the prayer—and by dog I mean a black dog—then the correct view is that it is general for men and women. Restricting it to men is like many other texts that mention a ruling attached to men or attached to women, and the principle is that they are equal in rulings. Yes.
The Shaykh: I mean, someone might say: A woman passing in front of a woman does not break the prayer because a woman is not concerned with her sister, unlike a woman passing in front of a man. But the black dog and the donkey are brought up in response to this; there is no difference between men and women in that regard. So the correct view is that it is general for men and women, and that restricting it to men is like many other texts that mention a ruling attached to men or attached to women, and the principle is that they are equal in rulings. Yes.
The questioner : The "al" in "al-rajul" (the man)?
The Shaykh : The "al" in "al-rajul" is for the generic sense. Yes.