to one’s prostration spot. Others to three cubits. Others said: ‘The distance which one must not go beyond is equal to that when a stone is thrown’. (1)

The farther the passer in front of a praying person is -in case the latter ignored putting a Sutarh- the safer he would be of sin for in this case one is not considered passing in front of him, just like the one who passes beyond the Sutarh. (2)

Ibn Hazm said: ‘If the distance between the one who passes in front of the praying person and the praying person is more than three cubits, the former will not incur a sin upon himself and the latter needn’t push him back, and vice versa.

In case the Sutrah is so close to the praying person; i.e. the distance between them is less than three cubits, then there is no sin on the one who passes beyond or over it’. (3)

He also said: ‘I have not found any evidence regarding this distance to be more than that. Accordingly, this distance is the maximum that one must not go beyond’. (4)

The aforementioned distance is a fixed one that should be taken into consideration for if the distance was to be measured according to the point of one’s Ruk?‘ or Suj?d, different measures will surely come out since people differ in their heights. And as we have affirmed earlier that a praying person should put a Sutrah in front of him and should not stand away from it, the farthest point permitted is three cubits. This distance explains the prophet’s ( - ) words: “within his hands’ outreach”. The prophet ( - ) also ordered us not to let any one pass in front of us while doing Sal?t and All?h ( - ) burdens not our souls with that they could bear not. While in the sitting position in Sal?t, one can not push back any one passing in front of him more than three cubits ahead. This all affirms what