Hadithcore
Sunan Abi Dawud, 708
hasan· Al-Albani

‘Amr b. Shu’aib reported from his father on the authority of his grand-father:

We came down from the mountain pass of Adhaakhir in the company of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The time of prayer came and he prayed facing a direction of prayer, and we were (standing) behind him. Then a kid came and passed in front of him. He kept on stopping it until he brought his stomach near the wall (to detain it), and at last it passed behind him, or as Musaddad said.

حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ، حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ يُونُسَ، حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ الْغَازِ، عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ شُعَيْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَدِّهِ، قَالَ هَبَطْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنْ ثَنِيَّةِ أَذَاخِرَ فَحَضَرَتِ الصَّلاَةُ - يَعْنِي - فَصَلَّى إِلَى جِدَارٍ فَاتَّخَذَهُ قِبْلَةً وَنَحْنُ خَلْفَهُ فَجَاءَتْ بَهْمَةٌ تَمُرُّ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ فَمَا زَالَ يُدَارِئُهَا حَتَّى لَصِقَ بَطْنُهُ بِالْجِدَارِ وَمَرَّتْ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ ‏.‏ أَوْ كَمَا قَالَ مُسَدَّدٌ ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 2, Hadith 318
English Reference
Book 2, Hadith 708
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) instructed the one who is praying to place a Sutrah (barrier) in front of him, so that nothing may pass in front of him and interrupt his prayer. As for the congregational prayer, if the Imam places a barrier for himself, it serves as a barrier for the followers behind him.In this narration, `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We descended”, meaning, we were on a journey and stopped at a location, “with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from the Thaniyyah of Adhakir”, which is a mountain pass between Makkah and Madinah. The word Thaniyyah refers to a path through the mountains. “The time for prayer came,” meaning the prescribed time had entered, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed with the people “facing a wall”, using it as a Qiblah and barrier, so that no one would pass in front of him and interrupt his prayer. The people were praying behind him. The narration reads, "Then a Bahmah came trying to pass in front of him" - the term Bahmah refers to the offspring of sheep, whether male or female - "He kept trying to prevent it", meaning he kept pushing it away and blocking its path, " until he pressed his stomach was pressed his stomach against the wall ". That is, he moved so close that there was no space left for it to pass in front of him, so it passed behind him instead.This narration shows that the Sutrah of the Imam serves as a Sutrah for those praying behind him, as the animal passed in front of the followers but behind the Imam, and this did not invalidate the prayer.The Hadith also teaches that it is upon the one who is praying to prevent anything, human or animal, from passing directly in front of him..