Women walking pass in front of a salat

Could a woman walking pass in front of a salat invalidate the prayer?

Abd Allah ibn al-Samit said: Abu Dharr said: The Messenger of Allah said: "When one of you stands in prayer, what definitely constitutes a barrier for him is an object placed in front of him of the same height as the back of a camel-saddle. If it is not in front of him and of the same height as the back of a camel-saddle, then some (stray) donkey, or some woman passing, or some black dog will cut off his prayer." (Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Number 1032)


The passing of the above - mentioned in front of the person at prayer does not invalidate his prayer according to the vast majority of the Imams of Law, Salaf and Khalaf (early and late authorities) who concur that the meaning of "will cut off his prayer" is not literal but means: "will make his prayer imperfect" due to the distraction they will cause in people's hearts. This was mentioned by Imam al-Nawawi in Sharh Sahih Muslim and al-Mubarakfuri in Tuhfa al-Ahwadhi.

Regarding the mention of women among the causes for the invalidation of Salat in the above narration of Sahih Muslim:

In Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 9, Number 493 (Book of Salat, Ar. # 478):

`A'isha said: "Are you (the narrator of that hadith) equating us (women) with dogs and donkeys? It happened to me more than once that I was lying down in bed, and the Prophet would come in, the bed being between us, and pray. Disliking to stand up in his face, I would slink down towards the bottom of the bed until I cleared my bedcover."

Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari mentioned that al-Bukhari adduced this hadith to show that the fact that a man at prayer faces a woman does not necessarily distract him.

Among the benefits of `A'isha's narration of the Prophet's behavior are the following:

1. An important elaboration on the general legal rulings inferred from the previous hadith, specifying that distraction is not an inevitable fact for all people.

This is confirmed by another narration from `A'isha in Bukhari states that at other times she would continue to sleep, and that the Prophet would touch her lightly upon prostrating so that she would withdraw her legs to make way for him, then she would stretch them again when he got up.

2. The clarification that women are less likely to cause distraction because they can take care to avoid whatever causes it, especially a spouse, as this situation is the likeliest to occur frequently in the life of Muslims.

3. The teaching that one should not mindlessly equate women with animals in the course of relating this authentic hadith.


Wallahu'alam