it is before the closing salutation. I questioned him about this, and he replied: “The rear of a thing is part of it, as with the rear of an animal” (1).
Section
When the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—prayed facing a wall, he left enough space between himself and it for a sheep to pass (2). He did not stand far from it; rather, he instructed people to stand close to the prayer barrier (3).
When he prayed facing a stick, a pillar, or a tree, he aligned it with his right or left eyebrow rather than facing it squarely (4). When travelling or out in the open country, he planted a short spear in the ground and prayed facing it, using it as his prayer barrier (5). He would position his mount crosswise (6) and pray facing it. He would also take the saddle and set it straight,
(1) See the discussion below on the stoning of the jamarāt, and the author’s Kitāb al-Salāh (The Book of Prayer), p. 378.
(2) Reported by al-Bukhārī (496) and Muslim (262) from Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sā‘idī.
(3) Reported by Ahmad (16090), Abū Dāwūd (695), al-Nasā’ī in al-Mujtabā (748) and al-Kubrā (826), and al-Bayhaqī (2:272) from Sahl ibn Abī Hathmah. It was graded authentic by Ibn Khuzaymah (803), Ibn Hibbān (2373), al-Hākim (1:251–252), and al-Albānī in Sahīh Abī Dāwūd—al-Umm (3:277). Al-‘Uqaylī said of this hadith in al-Du‘afā’ (6:25): “This is established.”
(4) Reported by Ahmad (23820), Abū Dāwūd (693), al-Tabarānī (20:259), and al-Bayhaqī (2:271) from al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad. Its chain includes al-Walīd ibn Kāmil, of whom al-Bukhārī said in al-Tārīkh al-Awsat (4:678): “His narrations contain oddities.” It also includes al-Muhallab ibn Hujr and Dubā‘ah, both unknown narrators.
(5) As for doing this while travelling, it was reported by al-Bukhārī (495) and Muslim (503) from Abū Juhayfah. As for doing it in the open country, it was reported by al-Bukhārī (494) and Muslim (501) from Ibn ‘Umar; this report states that he would do so on the day of Eid.
(6) That is, he would position his mount crosswise.