Part 3

25It is not permissible for the one who is praying towards a sutrah to let anyone pass in front of him, because of the hadith quoted above, “Do not let anyone pass in front of you…” And because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When one of you is praying towards something which is a sutrah between him and the people, and someone wants to pass in front of him, then he should push him in the upper chest and repel him as much as he can.” According to another report: “… he should stop him twice, but if he insists then he should fight him, for he is a devil.” Stepping forward to prevent someone passing in front of him 26It is permissible for a person to take one or two steps to the front, in order to prevent one who is not responsible from passing in front of him, such as an animal or a small child, and to make them pass behind him. What breaks prayer 27The sutrah is so important to prayer that it prevents a person’s prayer from being invalidated, if someone passes in front of him. This is in contrast to the one who does not use a sutrah, whose prayer is broken if an adult woman, a donkey or a black dog passes in front of him. 3 – Niyyah (intention) 28The worshipper must have the intention of praying the prayer for which he is standing. He must have the intention in his heart of performing a specific prayer, such as the fard (obligatory prayer) of Zuhr or of ‘Asr, or the Sunnah of those prayers. This is a condition or pillar (essential part) of the prayer, but uttering the intention verbally is a bid’ah which goes against the Sunnah, which was not suggested by any of the imams who are followed. 4 – Takbeer 29Then he should start the prayer by saying “Allaahu akbar (Allaah is Most Great).” This is an essential part of the prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The key to prayer is purifying oneself (wudoo’), it is entered by takbeer (saying ‘Allaahu akbar’) and exited by tasleem (saying ‘alsalaamu ‘alaykum’)” i.e, once you say takbeer, certain things are prohibited and this prohibition ends when you say tasleem. 30He should not raise his voice when saying takbeer in all the prayers, unless he is acting as an imaam. 31It is permissible for the muezzin to convey the takbeer of the imaam to the people, if there is a need to do so, such as if the imaam is sick and his voice is weak, or because there are many worshippers praying behind him. 32The one who is following the imaam should not say takbeer until the imaam has finished saying takbeer. Raising the hands – how it is to be done 33He should raise his hands when saying the takbeer, or before or after doing so. All of these are proven in the Sunnah. 34He should raise them with the fingers stretched out. 35He should raise them level with his shoulders, or sometimes until they are level with his earlobes. I say: with regard to touching the earlobes with the thumbs, there is no basis for this in the Sunnah, rather in my view this has to do with waswaas (insinuating whispers of the Shaytaan). Placing the hands – how it is to be done 36Then he should place his right hand on his left, immediately after the takbeer. This is the way of the Prophets (peace be upon them), and this is what the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined upon his companions. It is not permissible to let the arms hang at the sides. 37The right hand should be placed on the back of the left hand, wrist and forearm. 38Sometimes the left hand may be grasped with the right. The combination of placing and grasping, which was favoured by some later scholars, has no basis. Where they should be placed 39The hands should be placed on the chest only; there is no difference between men and women in this regard. I say: placing them anywhere other than on the chest is da’eef (weak) or has no basis. 40It is not permissible to put the right hand on the waist. Humility and looking at the place of prostration 41The worshipper must be humble in his prayer, and should avoid everything that may distract him from it, such as adornments and decorations. He should not pray where there is food that he wants to eat, or when he needs to urinate or defecate. 42Whilst he is standing, he should look towards the place where he will prostrate. 43He should not look to the right or the left, because looking here and there is a snatching away which the Shaytaan steals from the prayer of the slave. 44It is not permissible for him to look up at the sky. Du’aa’ al-Istiftaah (du’aa’ at the start of prayer) 45Then he should start the prayer with some of the du’aa’s which are narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).