Second: Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, did not say that he passed in front of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him; rather, he passed in front of part of the row. We affirm this: nothing invalidates the prayer of one praying behind an imam—neither a dog nor anything else—because the imam’s sutrah serves as a sutrah for those behind him.

As for the woman, they said: We have two proofs that a woman does not invalidate the prayer.

The first proof is the hadith of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her. When she was told that a woman invalidates the prayer, she became angry and said: “You have likened us to donkeys and dogs! I would lie stretched out in front of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, while he prayed at night.” (1)

Had she invalidated his prayer, he would not have continued praying.

The response is that this hadith contains no proof, because this was not a case of passing in front of someone. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Let him not allow anyone to pass in front of him.” (2) There is a difference between passing by and lying down, and we agree with you that if a woman were to lie down in front of a person praying, she would not invalidate his prayer.

The second proof is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was praying in the house of Umm Salamah when Abdullah ibn Abi Salamah, or Umar ibn Abi Salamah, came intending to pass in front of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, so he prevented him. Then Zaynab bint Abi Salamah came; she was a small child. He tried to prevent her, but she would not stop, and she passed across,