Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 382
sahih

Narrated Abu Salama:

`Aisha the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I used to sleep in front o Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and my legs were opposite his Qibla and in prostration he pushed my legs and I withdrew then and when he stood, I stretched them.' `Aisha added, "In those days the houses were without lights."

حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مَالِكٌ، عَنْ أَبِي النَّضْرِ، مَوْلَى عُمَرَ بْنِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، زَوْجِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ كُنْتُ أَنَامُ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَرِجْلاَىَ فِي قِبْلَتِهِ، فَإِذَا سَجَدَ غَمَزَنِي، فَقَبَضْتُ رِجْلَىَّ، فَإِذَا قَامَ بَسَطْتُهُمَا‏.‏ قَالَتْ وَالْبُيُوتُ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَيْسَ فِيهَا مَصَابِيحُ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 8, Hadith 34
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 1, Book 8, Hadith 379 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Prayer is an act of worship that nourishes the soul. In the prayer, the individual stands before his Lord, and he should take measures to help him focus properly and not be distracted whilst praying. In this hadith, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she would sleep in front of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and her legs would be in his qiblah; in other words, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would pray tahajjud on the mat on which his wife was sleeping, and she would be sleeping in front of him whilst he was praying, so she was between him and the qiblah. When he prostrated, he would touch her with his hand to alert her to the fact that he wanted to prostrate, so she would draw up her legs so that he could prostrate. Then when he stood up again, she would stretch her legs out again. At that time there were no lights or lamps in the houses, because they had very little in the way of worldly comforts. This indicates that darkness was the reason why she was in front of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) whilst he was praying. This hadith indicates that a woman does not interrupt or invalidate the prayer of one who is praying in her direction. It also indicates that a small movement made whilst praying does not invalidate the prayer..
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