Those who disliked a man passing in front of another who is praying

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Juhaym (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If the one passing in front of a person praying knew how great a sin there is in this act, he would stand for forty (years, months or days)."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid said: "Once a man started to pass in front of Abd al-Hamid bin Abd al-Rahman, the governor of Umar bin Abd al-Aziz, while he was praying. He pulled him so hard that his clothes were about to tear. When he had completed his prayer, he said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'If the one passing in front of a person praying knew how much sin there is in it, he would prefer that his thigh be broken rather than pass in front of the one praying.'"

Abdullah bin Buraydah said: "My father (may Allah be pleased with him) saw some people passing in front of one another in the prayer. He said: 'Look at these children: when they grow up, they will say: We saw our elders doing just this.'"

Ibn Sirin said: "Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) was praying when Abd al-Rahman bin al-Harith bin Hisham started to pass in front of him. Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id stopped him, but he insisted on passing, so Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id pushed him back forcefully. It was said to Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id: 'You do this to Abd al-Rahman?' He said: 'By Allah, even if I had to grab him by his hair to stop him, I would have stopped him.'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If someone starts to pass in front of the one praying, let him contend with him and stop him, for he is a devil."

Sayyiduna Abdullah (bin Mas'ud) (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever among you is able not to let anyone pass in front of him during the prayer, let him certainly do so, for the one who passes is doing more harm to himself than to the one praying."

Ayyub said: "I asked Sa'id bin Jubayr: 'If someone passes in front of me, should I let him pass?' He said: 'No.' I said: 'And if he insists on passing?' Sa'id said: 'Then what will you do?' I said: 'It has reached me that Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) would not let anyone pass in front of him.' Sa'id said: 'If you start doing what Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) did, your nose will get broken!'"

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying, and a young goat wanted to pass in front of him. He kept moving forward and backward until the young goat jumped away."

Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was praying when Abdullah bin Abi Salamah or Umar bin Abi Salamah started to pass in front of him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gestured to him with his hand, and he stopped. Then Zaynab bint Abi Salamah started to pass; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gestured to her with his hand as well, but she did not stop and passed in front. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had completed the prayer, he said: 'These girls get the better of us.'"

Abu Mijlaz said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stopped a cat from passing in front of him during the prayer."

Yazid bin Nimran said: "A crippled man told me: 'Once I passed in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was praying; I was riding a donkey. He (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated against me: "O Allah, may he not walk on his feet." Ever since then I have not been able to walk on my feet.'"

Amr bin Dinar said: "I passed in front of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) while he was praying. He rose up from his sitting and pushed me in the chest."

Wabrah says: I have not seen anyone more severe in stopping those who pass in front of him in prayer than Ibrahim al-Nakha'i and Abd al-Rahman bin al-Aswad.