“When any one of you rises for prayer, let him not smooth the pebbles, for mercy is facing him.”
In al-Bukhari (1129) and Muslim (546) it is also reported: “If you must do so, then only once.”
The scholars unanimously agree that smoothing the ground is disliked. Therefore, if the worshipper has a sutrah in front of him and someone passes beyond it, the mercy that faces him is unhindered and no defect or deficiency befalls his prayer.
6 – Ibn Ḥāmid transmitted a consensus that using a sutrah is recommended, and that one should stand close to it. Al-Baghawī said: The scholars recommend coming near the sutrah so that the distance between the worshipper and it is only what is needed for him to prostrate; the same applies between the rows.
7 – Sharḥ al-Zād and other works state that it is recommended to angle oneself slightly away from the sutrah, placing it at one’s right or left brow instead of facing it squarely. Abū Dāwūd narrates from al-Miqdād: “I never saw him pray toward a stick, a pillar, or a tree except that he placed it at his right or left brow.” This is also a precaution against resembling prostration to anyone other than Allah, exalted be He.
8 – This ḥadith shows how serious the sin and crime of the passer-by is; some scholars, including Ibn al-Qayyim, even counted it among the major sins.
9 – It likewise points to the desirability of protecting the prayer from anything that diminishes it or detracts from its perfection.
10 – Such a passer-by is one of the devils of humankind who ruin people’s prayers and acts of worship, or else the devil who accompanies him spurs him on to harm people and spoil their worship.
11 – Repelling the passer-by should begin with the gentlest means: first by preventing him; if that fails, then by pushing him away; and if that still fails, then by physical force. One should not resort to violence until all mild measures have been exhausted. This principle applies to repelling any aggressor, unless one fears a sudden attack, in which case he may employ the best protective means available.
12 – Al-Nawawī said: I do not know of any jurist who considered this repelling obligatory; rather, they have explicitly declared it recommended.