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Fatwa CenterPassing in front of a praying person
Question
My question is regarding 'Umrah. I understand that it is not permitted to walk in front of someone who is praying Salah, and if someone was to walk in front of my Sutrah then I am to stop them from crossing my path. Due to the large crowds at Hajj and 'Umrah time, where passing in front of people praying is almost inevitable, should I still stop people from passing in front of me? And what should I do if I have to pass someone myself?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
According to the most preponderant opinion of scholars
the ruling of passing through the prayer space of a praying person, putting a Sutrah (some kind of partition so that others would not pass in front of him within his prayer space) and the ruling of repulsing a person who wants to pass within one's prayer space is general whether in Al-Haram mosque of Makkah or elsewhere as the Prophetic narrations which were reported in this regard are general. That's why Imaam Maalik
when he was asked about passing in front of a praying person in Makkah whether or not the person should be repulsed like elsewhere, he replied: 'Yes. Indeed I know this for sure if the person is praying to a pillar or a Sutrah, but I do not know the ruling about repulsing the people who are circumambulating around the Ka'bah.'
This is the principle in the matter, however, since it is difficult to take a Sutrah sometimes in Al-Haram mosque and it is difficult to avoid passing in front of a praying person when it is overcrowded during the season of Hajj or Ramadan. Then in our view, and Allaah knows best, it is not obligatory to avoid passing in front of a praying person or to repulse someone who passes in front of a person who prays when it is overcrowded as it is difficult to avoid passing in front of him or to repulse every passing person. This view could be supported by what some scholars stated that someone who is circumambulating the Ka'bah is excluded from being prevented from passing in front of a praying person if the latter has no Sutrah, and that it is disliked for him to pass if the praying person has a Sutrah. Moreover, a group of scholars permitted to pass in front of a praying person in Al-Haram mosque without distinguishing between someone who is circumambulating around the Ka'bah and someone who is not. They based their evidence on some weak narrations.
Allaah knows best.
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