SECTION ON PRAYER · 109 – The Prohibition of Passing in Front of a Praying Person
Büsr ibn Sa’id, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhani sent Abu Juhaymah to inquire from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about a person who passes in front of one performing prayer. Abu Juhaymah reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
"Indeed, if he who passes in front of one praying knew the sin he incurs because of passing in front of him, he would wait (forty years or forty months or forty days) rather than pass in front of him." Abu Nazir said: The narrator does not know whether he said forty years, forty months, or forty days. [451]
COMMENTARY
Except in a case of necessity, it is like trampling upon the face of a believer to tread on his place of prostration. It is better for a believer to wait in one place for a long time than to trample upon the face of another. If he who passes in front of one praying knew the magnitude of the sin he commits, he would be willing to wait even forty years. The mention of forty years here is an exaggeration; its purpose is to indicate that he would prefer to wait for a long time.