rather, he should move farther away. Imagine someone who wishes to pray in the mosque while nearby a circle is engaged in dhikr or Qur’an recitation; if he fears that drawing close will distract him, he should distance himself. If, however, their voices will not distract him, there is no harm in his merely hearing them. Intentional listening is different, for the worshipper should listen attentively only to the recitation of his imam.
Accordingly, if you are praying and a reciter begins reading a hadith or delivering an admonition, do not strain your ears toward him—do not listen deliberately, for that is not prescribed—and do not focus your attention on him. If his words reach your ears while you continue your prayer, paying no heed to them, there is no problem.
- One of the benefits of this hadith is that the person praying may change his intention—switching from a lengthy prayer to a brief one or the opposite—whenever a reason arises. The Prophet ﷺ would sometimes begin a prayer intending to prolong it and then shorten it.
Thus, if someone starts his prayer planning to lengthen it, and then a person comes and says, “There are guests at the door,” or the like, there is no objection to his shortening the prayer so he may attend to his guests, just as the Messenger ﷺ did.
- Another benefit of the hadith: there is no blame on a person who finds his child’s crying—or anything that causes the child pain—hard to bear. This reaction is instinctive and natural, for everyone is distressed by the sound of his own child’s weeping. Indeed, some people are troubled merely by hearing any infant cry, even if the child is not theirs, out of mercy for the young. Undoubtedly, showing mercy to children, caring for them, and protecting them from harm are among the causes that bring down divine mercy, as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever…"