The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed the worshipper to have something as a sutrah (screen) in front of him, so that no one would pass in front of him and interrupt his prayer. In the case of congregational prayer, if the imam has a sutrah for himself, then he is a sutrah for the people praying behind him. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) describes the sutrah used by the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in prayer. He tells us that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) went out for the Eid prayer – and he used to offer the Eid prayer in a wide open space called the musalla, not in the mosque – he would instruct his servant to bring a spear – the Arabic word refers to a spear with a broad head – which he would bring out on Eid and other occasions, then it would be stuck into the ground like a column in front of him. Then he would pray facing towards it, with the people behind him. He would also do that when travelling; he would instruct that the spear be brought out and placed in front of him, and he would pray facing towards it. That was not limited to the day of Eid only. Then Nafi‘ – who narrated the hadith from Ibn ‘Umar – stated that because of the Prophet’s action, leaders would also use a spear in this manner, following the example of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). What is meant is that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed on open land, he would pray facing towards the spear. He would set it up in front of him, then pray facing towards it. He did that on the two Eids, because he used to offer those prayers in the open, where there was no structure or sutrah. He also used to do that when travelling, because travellers do not usually find a wall to use as a sutrah, and in most cases the traveller prays in open land..