What is a Sutrah and why is it Important?

by Asma bint Shameem

🔺A Sutrah is something that’s placed in front of a person when he’s praying. 

🔺 It’s a recommendation from the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam to place a Sutrah whenever we pray. 

🍃 He said:

“When one of you prays, let him pray facing a sutrah and let him draw close to it.” (Abu Dawood- Hasan by al-Albaani)

🔺If we're praying by ourselves in an open area, like the hall of a Masjid etc, we should try not to pray in the middle of the area where people can come and go and pass in front of us. 

We should try and find a spot behind a pillar, a chair etc. 

🍃That’s because the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

“If the one who passes in front of a person who is praying knew what (a burden of sin) he bears, it would be better for him to stand for forty rather than pass in front of him.” Abu’l-Nadar – one of the narrators – said: 

“I do not know whether he said forty days or months or years.”

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

🔺 The height of the Sutrah 

The Sutrah should be the height of the back of a saddle according to the hadeeth of the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam. 

🍃He said:

"If any of you places something like (the size of) the rear of a camel's saddle in front of him, then performs Salaah, then do not bother about whoever passes beyond that". (Muslim)

That's about the length of a forearm from the fingertips to the elbow. 

But if you can't find anything that's that height then anything will do. 

🍃That's because Allaah says:

"So keep your duty to Allaah (and fear Him) as much as you can..." (Surah at-Taghaabun: 16) 

🍃And the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said:

"If I order you to do something then do as much of it as you are able to". (Muslim)

🔺What if I’m praying in congregation behind an Imaam? 

Do I still need the Sutrah?

If you're praying behind the Imaam, you don't need the sutrah because the Imaam's sutrah is your sutrah. 

 And if you came late to the masjid and joined the Jama'ah, then the Imaam finished the Salaah and everyone moved away, and you're left still praying, then in that situation the ulama tell us that if there's a pillar, chair, another person etc, close by then we should take that as our sutrah and move towards that if we can do so, without too much moving. 

But if the potential sutrah is not close by and it involves moving a big distance then we can continue to pray without a sutrah because there's nothing we can do. 

However do try and stop people who are about to pass on from of you as per the instructions of the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam. 

🍃He said:

"If any of you perform Salaah then do not let anyone pass in front of you. And if someone insists ( on passing) then fight him, for indeed he is Shaytaan". (Muslim)

🔺 Can I use a person as Sutrah?

It is permissible to pray if a person is sitting in front of you. And you can use them as a “human sutrah”. 

🍃 Aa’ishah radhi Allaahu anhaa said: 

“I used to sleep in front of the Messenger of Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam and my legs would be in the direction of his qiblah. 

When he prostrated, he would poke me and I would draw my legs up and when he stood up I would stretch them out again.”

(al-Bukhaari 382). 

But it’s much better to pray in a place where there’s least distractions. 

And if someone is sitting in front of you, the chances of you getting distracted are greater. 

🔺 Can I use my shoes as sutrah?

It is permissible to use shoes as Sutrah if there’s nothing else available, as long as there’s no obvious impurity on it. 

🍃 Someone asked Shaikh Ibn Uthaymeen about using shoes as Sutrah. 

He said: 

“There is no problem, except if there is something apparent upon them from impurities or harm, then do not use them as a sutrah, because the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam forbade that the worshipper to spit in front of himself. 

(al-Bukhaari 504 Muslim 547)

but if there is nothing apparent by way of (najaasah) impurities, then there is no problem that you take (the shoes as a) sutrah.”

(Liqaa'atul-baabil Maftooh, vol.3, p.522)

Having said that, even though it may be “permissible” to use shoes as sutrah when there’s nothing else available, it is not appropriate to place shoes in front of you if there’s no need to do that when offering prayers because the shoes are considered something dirty.

So it is better that you place them to the side.

🍃 Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

“There is no doubt that shoes are big and three dimensional, but I think that they should not be used as a sutrah, because shoes are customarily regarded as dirty, and you should not have them in front of you, when you are standing before Allaah. Hence the Prophet ﷺ forbade worshippers to spit in front of them so that the sputum would be in front of them, and he ﷺ said:

“For Allaah is in front of him [the worshipper].”

(al-Bukhaari 406)”

(Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/326)

🔺 What if I’m praying and my baby comes in front of me?

We should try and stop anyone from coming in front of us when praying even if it’s a child. 

That’s because the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam even prevented a lamb from passing in front of him when he was praying. 

🍃 Amr ibn Shu’ayb narrated from his father that his grandfather said: 

“We stopped with the Messenger of Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam 

in Thaniyyat Adhaakhir and the time for prayer came, so he prayed facing a wall which lay in the direction of the qiblah, and we were behind him. 

A lamb came and tried to pass in front of him and he kept pushing it back until its belly was pushed up against the wall, then it passed behind him.” 

(Abu Dawood, 708; al-Albaani said in Saheeh Abi Dawood, it is hasan saheeh, 652). 

So that’s the general rule. 

But if the baby comes and sits in your lap or crosses in front of you, that doesn’t invalidate your prayer. 

That’s because the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam used to pick up his granddaughter while praying and he would put her down when he went into rukoo and sujood. 

🍃 Abu Qutaadah al-Ansaari radhi Allaahu anhu said:

“The Messenger of Allaah 

Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam 

used to pray whilst he was carrying Umaamah, the daughter of Zaynab bint Rasool-Allaah Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam. 

“when he prostrated he put her down, and when he stood up he picked her up.”

(al-Bukhaari 494 and Muslim 543).

🔺 What about a pet like a cat? 

Generally speaking, if a person or an animal crosses in front of us, it will only decrease the reward of the prayer and it will NOT INVALIDATE it. 

And thus, we will not have to repeat the prayer. 

🍃 Shaikh Ibn Baaz said:

“He should not let anything pass in front of him, whether it is a human being or an animal, if it is possible for him to prevent that. 

But if it overcomes him and passes in front of him, it does not affect his prayer. 

His prayer is affected and interrupted by one of the three: a black dog or a woman or a donkey.”

(Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb, 2/830-832)

🔺What about when praying in the Haram? So many people are walking in front of you. 

People should try and place anything in front of them as a sutrah even in the Haram.

However, if someone didn’t place a sutrah in front of them while praying, then as long as you avoid the area between their feet and their place of sajdah, it should be fine. 

🍃The scholars said:

“If the one who is praying has not set up a sutrah, he has no more than the space in which he prostrates. 

This is the most correct scholarly opinion. 

It is permissible for the one who wants to pass in front of him to pass in the space beyond where he prostrates. 

That is because the prohibition mentioned in the hadeeth applies to passing in front of the one who is praying, and what is beyond the place where he prostrates is not counted as being in front of the one who is praying.”

(Islamqa Fatwa # 26182)

🍃Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said concerning the distance within which the person who’s praying should stop anyone from passing in front of him: 

“The most correct opinion is that it is the distance between his feet and the place where he prostrates. 

That is because the one who is praying has no right to anything more than what he needs for his prayer. 

So he does not have the right to prevent the people from (using space) that he does not need.”(Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 3/340)

And Allaah knows best