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Fatwa CenterRuling on he who prays with toys and dolls before him
Question
The mother of a little girl puts her child along with her toys and dolls on a prayer rug before her while she performs the prayer. What should she do in this regard?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
A worshipper should strive to observe khusoo’ (i.e. observing the prayer humbly with an attentive and submissive heart) in the prayer and make sure to remove anything that may distract his attention. ‘Aishah 
reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prayed on a shirt that had patterns on it and that he glanced at its patterns. Then, after he finished, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
Go with this khameesah (i.e. a square garment or cloak) of mine to Abu Jahm (i.e. the person who gave it to him) and bring me his anbijaniyyah (i.e. a coarse garment without patterns or a plain cloak) for it distracted me from my prayer. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The version of this hadith that was reported in Saheeh Al-Bukhaari reads, “… I fear that it may divert my attention (during my prayers).”
Imam An-Nawawi 
said:
These versions of the hadith are close in meaning. They refer to having attentive hearts and minds during prayer, pondering over the supplications, thikr (remembrance of Allah), and the verses of the Quran being recited as well as the objectives and aims of the prayer, such as observing submissiveness and attentiveness in it. They urge people to perform the prayer with attentive and submissive hearts and minds and contemplate what we clarified earlier. They also teach worshippers not to look at anything that may distract their attention and all that may preoccupy their minds and hearts while praying. Moreover, it is disliked to decorate the mihrab (i.e. niche found in the middle of the qiblah [direction of the prayer] wall), the walls of the mosque and other parts of its structure and similar things that may distract the attention of worshippers during the prayer. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, clarified that the reason for removing the khameesah was that it had designs that were visually distracting.
Hence, your mother should put away the toys of her child when she prays so as not to distract her attention. However, if she performs the prayer without putting away these toys and dolls, then her prayer is still valid, without a doubt.
Allah knows best.
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