Is it permissible for a person to face the one who is praying?

The questioner : one: Is it permissible for a person to face the one who is praying?

The Shaykh : There is nothing in the Sunnah regarding what has become common on some tongues . This has no basis in the Sunnah. There is a hadith in al-Bukhari where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying in his chamber or in his house, and the Lady Aisha was positioned in front of him. This positioning between him and the qiblah indicates that there is no obstacle and nothing wrong with a person facing the one who is praying in front of him. After that, there is no difference between praying toward this person beside him, toward his back, or toward his face, except in one aspect: if that face is in an unnatural position, especially if it is a woman, as in the same hadith, which might distract the one praying. In that case, the dislike of facing him comes from the fact that it distracts the one praying. This is a matter of etiquette regarding prayer in general: it is not befitting for the one praying to have anything between him and his qiblah that might distract him from his prayer, whatever it may be. Based on this reasoning, which is distraction, the answer regarding facing the face is: if there is distraction, it is not prescribed and not permissible. If it is in a natural position, there is nothing wrong with it. It is authentic in the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When he prayed inside the Ka'bah," or more accurately: "When he entered the Ka'bah to pray in it, he found the horns of Ibrahim's ram hanging on the inner wall of the Ka'bah."

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : "So he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered a person to cover them , to cover them with a cloth, meaning to cover them. The reason was so that a person would not be distracted in his prayer by looking at these two horns, which remind one of what happened in the past. This is among the hadiths that indicate that the one praying should not pray with something in front of him that distracts him. Also, it came in "Sahih al-Bukhari," and the previous hadith is in "Sunan Abu Dawud" with a sound chain, and in "Musnad Imam Ahmad" as well. As for our following hadith, it is in "Sahih al-Bukhari": "That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed one day in a khamisah." The khamisah, in the Arabic language which we have almost forgotten, is what is called in our Shami expression... it is a garment decorated with stripes in white, red, and green. This is the khamisah. "So he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed one day in a khamisah of his, and when he finished his prayer, he said: ; meaning: the khamisah. In another narration: . So this is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whom we cannot imagine a person with a purer heart or a stronger connection to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), especially when he is before his Lord, more so than him (peace and blessings be upon him). And yet, he adopts means that prevent him from what might distract him from his prayer. So what can any one of us say about himself? No doubt we are more in need of not placing between us and our qiblah, which we face, anything that distracts us from our prayer and from turning to our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). And this, in reality, opens a wide door for you: when a Muslim wants to stand for prayer, there should be nothing that distracts him at all, especially the images that Muslims today are afflicted with in their homes, acquiring them and even hanging them, particularly in prominent places. This, in addition to distracting, drives away the angels of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) from entering those houses, as came in the authentic hadith: .
Other than that?