Sunan Abi Dawud

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Have the imam in the centre and close up the gaps.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw a man praying alone behind the row. He ordered him to repeat. Sulayman ibn Harb said: The prayer.

Abu Bakrah said that he came to the mosque when the prophet (ﷺ) was bowing. So I bowed outside the row (before joining it). The prophet (ﷺ) said; May Allah increase your eagerness! But do not do it again.

Abu Bakrah came when the apostle of Allah (ﷺ) was bowing. So he bowed without the row (before joining it). He then went to the row. When the prophet (ﷺ) finished his prayer, he said: which of your bowed without the row, and then went to the row? Abu Bakrah said; it was i. the prophet (ﷺ) said: May Allah increase your eagerness ! but do not do it again.

When you place in front of you something such as the back of a saddle, then there is no harm if someone passes in front of you (i.e. the other side of it).

The back of the saddle is (about) one cubit (in height) or more than that.

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would go out (for prayer) on the day of 'Id, he ordered to bring a lance, it was then setup in front of him and he would pray in its direction, and the people (stood) behind him. He used to do so during journey ; hence the rulers would take it (lance with them).

The Prophet (ﷺ) led them in prayer at al-Batha', with a staff set up in front of him. (He prayed) two rak'ahs of the Zuhr prayer and two rak'ahs of the 'Asr prayer. The women and the donkeys would pass in front of the staff.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you prays, he should put something in front of his face, and if he can find nothing , he should set up his staff; but if he has no staff, he should draw a line; then what passes in front of him will not harm him.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ...... He then narrated the tradition about drawing the line. Sufyan said: We did not find anything by which we could reinforce this tradition, and this has been narrated only through this chain. He ('Ali b. al-Madini, a narrator) said: I said to Sufyan: There is a difference of opinion of the name (Abu Muhammad b. 'Amr). He pondered for a moment and then said: I do not remember except Abu Muhammad b. 'Amr Sufyan said: A man had come to Kufah after the death of Isma'il b. Umayyah ; he was seeking Abu Muhammad until he found him. He asked him (about this tradition) but he became confused. Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal who was questioned many times how the line should be drawn. He replied: In this way. horizontally like crescent. Abu Dawud said: I heard Musaddad say: Ibn Dawud said: The line should be drawn perpendicularly. Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal describing many times how the line should be drawn. He said: In this way horizontally in the round semi-circular form like the crescent, that is (the line should be) a curve.

I saw Sharik who led us in the 'Asr prayer during a funeral ceremony. He placed his cap in front of him, that is, for saying the obligatory prayer the time of which had come.

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to pray facing his camel.

I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) praying in front of a stick, a pillar, or a tree, without having it opposite his right or left eyebrow, and not facing it directly.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not pray behind a sleeping or a talking person.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When one of you prays facing a sutrah he should keep close to it, and not let the devil interrupt his prayer. Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by Waqid b. Muhammad from Safwan from Muhammad b. Sahl on the authority of his father, or on the authority of Muhammad b. Sahl from the Prophet (ﷺ). Some have narrated it from Nafi' b. Jubair on the authority of Sahl b. Sa'd. There is a variation in the chain of its narrators.

The distance between the place where the Prophet (ﷺ) stood and the qiblah (i.e. the sutrah or the wall of the mosque) was as much as to allow a goat to pass.

When one of you prays, he should not let anyone pass in front of him; he should turn him away as far as possible; but if he refuses (to go), he should fight him, for he is only a devil.

When one of you prays, he should pray facing the sutrah (screen or covering) and he should keep himself close to it. He then narrated the tradition to the same effect.

I saw 'Ata b. Yazid al-Laithi praying in a standing posture. So I went to him passing in front of him; he, therefore, turned me away. He then said to me: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone of you can do that he should not let anyone pass between him and the qiblah, he should do it.

I narrate what I witnesses from Abu Sa'id and heard from him. Abu Sa'id entered upon Marwan and said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: When one of you prays facing any object which conceals him from people, and someone wishes to pass in front of him, he should strike him at his chest; if he refuses (to go), he should fight him; he is only a devil. Abu Dawud said: Sufyan Ath-Thawri said: "A person arrogantly walks in front of me while I am praying, so I stop him, and a weak person passes, so I dont stop him."