Zād al-Maʿād - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/339)

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It was not the practice of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to close his eyes during prayer. As mentioned earlier, when supplicating during the tashahhud (testimony of faith), he directed (1) his gaze towards his finger and did not look beyond it as he pointed.

Al-Bukhārī recorded in his Sahīh (2) that Anas said: ‘Aisha had a thin curtain (3) with which she covered one side of her house. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Take this curtain of yours away from us, for its images keep appearing to me during my prayer.” Had he been closing his eyes, they would not have appeared to him during prayer. Yet using this hadith as evidence is questionable: was what appeared to him during prayer the recollection (4) of those images after seeing them, or the sight of the images themselves? Either interpretation is possible (5).

Clearer evidence is the hadith of ‘Aisha that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed wearing a cloak with decorative markings and glanced at them. When he finished, he said: “Take this cloak of mine to Abū Jahm and bring me his plain woollen cloak (6), for it distracted me just now from my prayer” (7). Yet using this report as evidence also has its difficulties: at most, it shows that he happened to glance at the markings and was distracted by that glance.

Nor does the report that he looked towards the mountain pass after sending a horseman there as a scout establish this, because

(1) All manuscripts except s and j read: “yūmi’u (gestures).” (2) Nos. 374 and 5959. (3) Qirām: a thin curtain. (4) k, ‘: “tadhkira (reminder).” (5) This is the reading in all manuscripts and early editions. Al-Fiqī added after it: “This, too, is possible.” (6) n: “bi-anbajāniyyat Abī Jahm (with Abū Jahm’s plain woollen cloak).” (7) Reported by al-Bukhārī (373, 5817) and Muslim (556/62).

فصل ولم يكن من هديه ﷺ تغميض عينيه في الصلاة. وقد تقدَّم أنه كان في التشهُّد يرمي (١) ببصره إلى إصبعه في الدعاء، ولا يجاوز ببصره إشارته. وذكر البخاري في «صحيحه» (٢) عن أنس قال: كان قِرَامٌ (٣) لعائشة، سترت به جانبَ بيتها، فقال النبي ﷺ: «أميطي عنَّا قِرامَكِ هذا، فإنه لا تزال تصاويره تعرِض في صلاتي». ولو كان يغمِّض عينيه، لما عرضت له في صلاته. وفي الاستدلال بهذا الحديث نظرٌ، لأن الذي كان يعرض له في صلاته: هل هو تذكُّرُ (٤) تلك التصاوير بعد رؤيتها، أو نفسُ رؤيتها؟ هذا محتمل (٥). وأبين دلالةً منه حديث عائشة أنَّ النبيَّ ﷺ صلَّى في خميصة لها أعلامٌ، فنظر إلى أعلامها نظرةً، فلما انصرف قال: «اذهبوا بخميصتي هذه إلى أبي جَهْم، وَأْتُوني بأنبجَانيَّته (٦)، فإنها أَلْهَتْني آنفًا عن صلاتي» (٧). وفي الاستدلال به أيضًا ما فيه، إذ غايته أنه حانت منه التفاتةٌ إليها، فشغلته بتلك الالتفاتة. ولا يدل حديث التفاته إلى الشِّعْب لما أرسل الفارس إليه طليعةً، لأن

(١) ما عدا ص، ج: «يومئ». (٢) برقم (٣٧٤، ٥٩٥٩). (٣) القِرام: الستر الرقيق. (٤) ك، ع: «تذكرة». (٥) كذا في جميع الأصول والطبعات القديمة. وقد زاد الفقي بعده: «وهذا محتمل». (٦) ن: «بأنبجانية أبي جهم». (٧) أخرجه البخاري (٣٧٣، ٥٨١٧) ومسلم (٥٥٦/ ٦٢).