Setting up a sutrah is not obligatory, for Ibn ʿAbbās related that the Prophet prayed in an open area with nothing placed in front of him; the report is found in the Musnad of Aḥmad and in the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd.

The sutrah should stand upright like the rear part of a camel’s saddle—roughly a cubit high—whether it is narrow or wide. Its purpose is twofold: to prevent someone from passing directly in front of the worshipper and to shield the worshipper from becoming distracted by whatever lies beyond it.

When praying in the wilderness, he should direct his prayer toward any prominent object—a tree, a stone, or a staff. If the staff cannot be fixed upright in the ground, he may lay it crosswise before him.

Should the imam falter in his recitation, the follower is allowed to prompt him with the correct wording.

During the prayer it is permissible to put on a garment or the like, to carry or set something down, or to open a door. He may even kill a snake or a scorpion, for the Prophet commanded the killing of the two black creatures—the snake and the scorpion—while in prayer; this was narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who graded it authentic.

Nevertheless, one should not multiply permissible movements in the prayer unless necessity demands it. If he performs many successive actions without need, the prayer is rendered invalid, for such behavior conflicts with the nature of the prayer and distracts from it.