Does the passing of a dog, a woman, or a donkey break the prayer?

Question:
What is the ruling on the sutrah, and does the passing of a dog, a woman, or a donkey break the prayer? And what is our position regarding the statement of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) when she said: "Have you made us like dogs and donkeys?"

Answer:
The sutrah is a confirmed sunnah (recommended practice). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was narrated by Abu Dawud with a good chain of narration. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to carry a small goat with him on his travels and would pray facing it (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, it is a confirmed sunnah (recommended practice) and not obligatory, because it is established that he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed facing something other than a sutrah on some occasions.
As for what breaks the prayer, it is the donkey, the black dog, and the adult woman. This is based on his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): It was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih from the hadith of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), and Muslim also narrated it from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) without mentioning "black." The rule is that the general is understood in light of the specific. In the hadith of Ibn Abbas, it says "the menstruating woman," meaning the adult woman. The correct view is what the hadith indicates: that these three break the prayer.
As for the statement of Aisha, it is her opinion and independent legal reasoning (ijtihad). She said: "How bad it is that you liken us to donkeys and dogs." She mentioned that she used to stand in front of the Messenger of Allah while he was praying. This is not passing through; because standing in the way is not called passing through. The sunnah (recommended practice) regarding this was hidden from her (may Allah be pleased with her). The one who knows the evidence has the argument over the one who does not know it. If a person prays facing a person sitting or lying down in front of him, that does not harm him. Only the passing through from one side to the other in front of the one praying, if the passer is one of the three mentioned, in front of him or between him and the sutrah, breaks the prayer.
If the woman is a minor who has not reached puberty, or the dog is not black, or something else passes by, such as a camel, a sheep, or the like, then none of these break the prayer. However, it is prescribed for the one praying not to allow anything to pass in front of him, even if it does not break the prayer; based on the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in which he said: It is agreed upon that it is authentic.
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), if an animal wanted to pass in front of him, would move forward until it passed behind him. In summary, the one praying must repel the passer according to his ability, but only these three mentioned break the prayer: the adult woman, the donkey, and the black dog.
The hadith of Ibn Abbas regarding leaving his she-donkey grazing in front of part of the row is not evidence that a donkey does not break the prayer. Because it passed in front of part of the row, and the follower (ma'mum) follows the imam; the passing of a woman or anything else does not break his prayer because he is following the imam. Therefore, only what breaks the imam's prayer breaks his prayer. If it passed in front of the imam or a person praying alone, it would break the prayer.
The conclusion is that the statement of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) does not contradict the sunnah (recommended practice). Rather, the sunnah (recommended practice) takes precedence over the opinion of Aisha and over anyone other than Aisha. This is a known rule among the scholars of the principles of jurisprudence and hadith terminology. And Allah the Exalted says: [Al-Nisa: 59].