Ninth: Praying in between Pillars
Qurrah (radyAllaahu 'anhu) reported: “We were forbidden and shunned from forming rows between pillars during the lifetime of Allaah’s Messenger (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam).” [18]
‘Abdul-Hameed bin Mahmood reported: “I once prayed with Anas bin Maalik on the day of Jumu’ah (Friday) and we were pushed towards the pillars. So some of us moved up (in front of it) and some of us moved back (behind it). (Afterward) Anas said: ‘We would avoid this during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam).’” [19]
Therefore, the foundation is to avoid praying between pillars and to be cautious about them unless the masjid is too constricted for its occupants due to its small size or the large amount of people praying in it. In such a situation, it would be permissible due to the sake of necessity and urgency.
People should be made aware of this issue, as well as similar issues, with knowledge, soft invitation and open discussion in a manner that is best so as to ensure the best result. It should not be done with harshness, hostility, rigidity and rude speech.
Tenth: Covering the Mouth when Praying
The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) prohibited a man from covering his mouth (during prayer).[20] In the Fataawaa of Shaikh Ibn Baaz (pg. 83), may Allaah have mercy on him, he stated: “It is disliked to put a covering on the lower part of the face when praying, unless one has a reason for doing so.”
Therefore, what some people do during the Fajr or other prayers such as covering their mouths without any valid reason or excuse is not permissible. It falls under the realm of wearing garments that are prohibited.
As for the fabricated excuse that some people use, claiming that they do it because its cold, this has no basis!!
Eleventh: Raising the Eyes to the Sky during Prayer
This opposes the Sunnah from two perspectives:
1. The foundation with regard to the one praying is that he must position his eyes towards the area where he will be prostrating.
2. The one who raises his eyes to the sky while praying is subject to the punishment found in the Prophet’s (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) statement: “Does not each of you fear that if he raises his head (to the sky) during prayer his eyesight will not be returned to him?” [21]
This also includes turning one’s eyes – or neck, and this is worse – from side to side, left and right, whether due to a reason or for no reason at all!! The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was asked about this, and he replied: “It is a larceny that the Devil has pilfered away from the prayer of the servant.” [22]
Twelfth: Some Rulings that Apply to one who comes Late to Prayer
What should a person do if he enters a masjid when the ‘Ishaa Prayer has been called but yet he hasn’t prayed the Maghrib Prayer due to a valid reason?! [23]
Answer: This person should follow the Imaam that is praying ‘Ishaa whilst intending to perform the Maghrib Prayer. So when the Imaam gets up to perform the fourth rak’ah, this person should intend to split away from the Imaam. Therefore, he should remain seated, say the tashahhud and finish praying alone.[24]
Thirteenth: Some of the Rulings of the Prostration for Forgetfulness
Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim reported from Abu Hurairah (radyAllaahu 'anhu) that the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “When one of you gets up to pray, the Devil comes to him and confuses him to the point that he doesn’t know how many (rak’aat) he prayed. So when one of you encounters that, he should perform two prostrations while sitting.”
At-Tirmidhee (398), Ibn Maajah (1209), and Ahmad (1/190) reported that ‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin ‘Awf (radyAllaahu 'anhu) said: “I heard the Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) say: ‘When one of you becomes forgetful while praying such that he cant remember if he prayed one (rak’ah) or two, he should build upon one. And if he doesn’t remember if he prayed two (rak’ahs) or three, he should build upon two. And if he doesn’t remember if he prayed three (rak’ahs) or four, he should build upon three. And he should perform two prostrations before saying Salaam.” [25]
Imaam Al-Baghawee said in Sharh-us-Sunnah (3/283): “This hadeeth consists of two rulings:
1. If he has doubts in his prayer and doesn’t know how many rak’aat he prayed, he should investigate. So either he becomes resolved on how many he has prayed or he goes by the lower amount.
2. The place in which to perform the prostration of forgetfulness is before the Salaam.
As for the first point, a majority of the scholars hold that one should build upon the lowest number and then do the prostrations of forgetfulness.
As for the place in which the prostration of forgetfulness takes place, there are varying narrations reported concerning it…”
Imaam Al-Haazimee said in al-‘Itibaar fin-Naasikh wal-Mansookh min al-Athaar (pg. 85), clarifying the most dominant view: “The middle path is for us to say that: The ahaadeeth that state one should prostrate before Salaam and those that state it should be done after it are all established and authentic. There exists a form of contradiction in them and it is not possible give some of these narrations precedence over others based on an authentic narration…The most correct option is to take these ahaadeeth with flexibility and the permissibility of both views.”
I say: As for a person who suffers from devilish whisperings, the following narration from al-Muwatta should be mentioned to him:
A man once told Al-Qaasim bin Muhammad: “I have doubts while in my prayer and that is very hard on me!” So he replied: “Continue in your prayer, for these (whisperings) will never leave from you even to the point that if you were to finish praying, you would say: I didn’t complete my prayer!”
Another person suffering from this type of whispering once complained to Imaam Ahmad, so he said to him: “Do not let this be part of your thoughts. Turn your attention away from it.” [26]
Fourteenth: Making up Missed Prayers
Allaah says: “Verily, the prayer is prescribed for the believers at set times.” [Surah An-Nisaa: 103]
Imaam Mujaahid said: “This means that they are scheduled at obligatory times, which Allaah has set for them.” [27]
The Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “Whoever sleeps over (the time of) prayer or forgets it, should pray it when he remembers. There is no expiation for him except this.” [28]
This is the state of someone who has missed a prayer or several prayers due to some reason that is beyond his control. Allaah says: “Allaah does not burden a soul with more than it could bear.” [Surah Al-Baqarah: 286]
And the Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “There is no neglect in sleep. Neglect is only found in one who doesn’t pray until the time for the next prayer comes in.” [29]
So if this is the state of someone, he should perform the prayer he missed immediately before the reason for which he missed it expires, such as waking up after sleeping or remembering after having forgotten…and so on and so forth. He should also perform the prayers he missed in sequential order according to their time-frames – the first one first, then the next one and so on.
“As for the one who deliberately leaves off praying without any (valid) excuse, whether due to disregard or laziness, to the point that the time for the prayer has passed, it is not valid for him to make it up nor is the burden of responsibility uplifted from him. This is due to the fact that there is no valid proof which indicates that he is mandated to make it up or restore it or that one’s duty is fulfilled by making it up after its time has passed.” [30]
So if this is someone’s condition, he should perform as many voluntary and supererogatory prayers as he can without specifying a particular time for doing them since the Prophet (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “Verily, the first thing that people will be held accountable for on the Day of Judgement from actions is the prayer. Our Lord will say to His Angels, even though He knows best: ‘Look into the prayer of My servant. Is it complete or deficient?’ If it is complete, it will be recorded for him as being complete. But if it is deficient in any way, He will say: ‘See if My servant has any voluntary prayers?’ So if he has voluntary prayers to his credit, He will say: ‘Compensate My servant’s obligatory (prayers) with the voluntary ones. Then his actions will be judged based on that.” [31]
Some people follow each obligatory prayer by performing a prayer that they missed. For example, they pray Dhuhr and then afterward, another Dhuhr that they missed previously, and the same with ‘Asr. This has no basis in the noble Sunnah, nor is there any valid proof known for it at all.
This is similar to what some people do like recording the number of prayers that they missed throughout the past years (!!), then performing them while subtracting the number they pray from the total. This is also from the newly-invented matters.
Footnotes:
[1] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim from Anas; The addition mentioned in brackets is from An-Nasaa’ee as stated in Silsilat-ul-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (73)
[2] Refer to al-Qawl-ul-Mubeen fee Akhtaa-il-Musalleen (pg. 264)
[3] Reported by Muslim
[4] Reported by Ahmad from Anas bin Maalik; Refer to Saheeh al-Jaami’-us-Sagheer (3454)
[5] Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawood from Anas; Refer to Saheeh al-Jaami’-us-Sagheer (3455)
[6] This is why Imaam Wakee’ bin Al-Jarraah, the teacher of Imaam Ash-Shaafi’ee, said: “Whoever treats the opening takbeer lightly (i.e. by not being present for it in the congregation), then wipe your hands clean from him.” Refer to Hilyat-ul-Awliyaa (8/370) of Abu Nu’aim Al-Asbahaanee.
[7] Meaning: Their prayer is valid even though they have opposed the authentic Sunnah and the Prophet’s guidance.
[8] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree
[9] You can find all of these in my book “Sharh Saheeh al-Kalim at-Tayyib” (pg. 75)
[10] Reported by Abu Dawood and Ibn Maajah from Abu Hurairah; Refer to Saheeh-ul-Jaami’-us-Sagheer (2359)
[11] See Silsilat-ul-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (1236)
[12] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim from Abu Hurairah
[13] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim from Abu Hurairah
[14] Reported by Ibn Khuzaimah; Refer to Sifatu Salaat-in-Nabee (pg. 82)
[15] See Silsilat-ul-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (1373)
[16] Translator’s Note: A piece of wood used as a stepping ground to mount a camel’s saddle. See an-Nihaayah of Ibnul-Atheer (pg. 29 of the Dar Ibn al-Jawzee Edition)
[17] This is the chapter heading designated by Imaam Al-Bukhaaree in his Saheeh (1/571)
[18] Reported by Ibn Maajah and Ibn Hibbaan; See “Misbaah-uz-Zujaajah” (1/191) of Al-Busairee
[19] Reported by At-Tirmidhee, Abu Dawood, and An-Nasaa’ee; Refer to my treatise “Tawfeeq-ul-Baaree fee Hukmis-Salaat baina-Sawaaree.”
[20] Reported by Abu Dawood, At-Tirmidhee, and Ahmad; Refer to Saheeh al-Jaami’-us-Sagheer (3886)
[21] Reported by Muslim
[22] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree
[23] This happens a lot when one is combining prayers
[24] Refer to the first issue of the magazine al-Asaalah (pg. 49) from the verdicts of Imaam Al-Albaanee
[25] Silsilat-ul-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah (1356)
[26] Refer to “Mawaarid-ul-Amaan al-Muntaqaa bin Ighaathat-il-Lahfaan” (pg. 226) written by me.
[27] Ma’aalim-ut-Tanzeel (2/282)
[28] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (597) and Muslim (684) from Anas bin Maalik
[29] Reported by Muslim (681) from Abu Qataadah
[30] Refer to “an-Nusoos ash-Shar’eeyah ath-Thaabitah fee Hukmi Qadaa-is-Salawaat-il-Faa’itah" (pg. 172) of Shaikh Muhammad Naseeb Ar-Rifaa’ee, may Allaah have mercy on him and forgive him.
[31] Reported by Abu Dawood (864), At-Tirmidhee (413), An-Nasaa’ee (1/232) and Ahmad (4/103), and it is an authentic hadeeth based on supporting narrations.
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