Chapter: Passing in Front of the Worshipper
Hadith One
Narrated by Abū Juhaim ibn al-Ṣimmah al-Anṣārī (may Allah be pleased with him): The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “If the person who passes in front of one who is praying knew what burden of sin(1) he incurs, he would prefer to stand still for forty(2) rather than pass in front of the worshipper.”
Abū al-Naḍr said, “I do not know whether he said forty days, months, or years.”
Overall meaning
The worshipper stands before his Lord, privately conversing with Him. Should anyone cross in front of him at that moment, the passer interrupts this intimate discourse and disrupts his devotion. For that reason, the sin of the one who mars the prayer by passing in front of the worshipper is grave. The Lawgiver therefore informs us that, were the passer to realize the extent of the sin and guilt that result from his action, he would rather remain standing for a very long time than take a single step between the worshipper and his place of prostration. This calls for vigilance and avoidance of such conduct.
Points derived from the hadith
- It is forbidden to pass in front of a worshipper who has no screen, or to pass between him and his screen when he has one.
- Because of this severe warning, one must stay clear of walking in front of the worshipper.
- It is preferable for the person praying not to pray in thoroughfares or in places where people inevitably need to pass, so that he does not expose his prayer to deficiency or the passers-by to sin.
- The narrator was unsure about the “forty”: does it refer to days, months, or years? The figure is not meant to be precise; it is hyperbolic, intended to emphasize the prohibition. The Arabs used such numbers proverbially when they wished to indicate magnitude, as in the verse, “Even if you were to seek forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah would never forgive them” (Qur’an 9:80). In the same spirit, Ibn Ḥibbān in his Ṣaḥīḥ and Ibn Mājah in his Sunan narrate from Abū Hurayrah: “He would find it better to stand for one hundred years than to take the step he takes when passing in front of the worshipper.”