[Q 655] Does Crossing Break Salah?

QUESTION:

Does a person crossing a person reading his namaz break the namaz because on one side I heard that it does and on the other side I heard that it doesn’t. And can you please explain to me in detail the full ruling of sutrah

ANSWER:

Passing in front of a person performing Salah (Namaz) without a Sutrah (barrier) is Makruh Tahrimi (prohibitively disliked), impermissible, and a sinful act. If a Sutrah is present in front of the worshipper and, despite that, someone deliberately passes between the Sutrah and the worshipper, then this is severely Makruh (prohibitively disliked) and sinful. However, passing in front of a person performing Salah does not invalidate (break) the Salah.

If Salah is being performed in a house, room, or a small mosque, then passing in front of the worshipper without a Sutrah up to the Qiblah wall is not permissible. However, in an open field or a large mosque (such as Masjid al-Haram and Masjid al-Nabawi عليه الصلاة والسلام), only passing within the area of prostration (place of Sajdah) is prohibited; passing beyond that area is permissible. For further rulings, one may study Bahar-e-Shariat, Part Three, issues 69 to 89.

The references are as follows:

Regarding passing in front of a person performing Salah, the Noble Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم said:

“لو يعلم المار بين يدي المصلی ماذا عليه، لكان ان يقف اربعين خيرا له من ان يمر بين يديه”

Translation: If the one passing in front of a person praying knew the magnitude of the sin upon him, he would consider standing there for forty (years) better than passing in front of him.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Bab Ithm al-Mar Bayna Yaday al-Musalli, vol. 1, p. 73, Karachi edition)

It is stated in Fatawa Alamgiri:

“ولو مرمار في موضع سجوده لا تفسد وإن أثم”
(Fatawa Alamgiri, Kitab al-Salah, vol. 1, p. 104, Beirut edition)

It is stated in Bahar-e-Shariat:
“A person passing in front of a worshipper, or even through the place of prostration, does not invalidate the Salah, whether the passer is a man or a woman, a dog or a donkey.”

(Bahar-e-Shariat, vol. 1, p. 614, Maktabat al-Madinah, Karachi)

Imam-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat (Leader of Ahl al-Sunnah), Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رحمة الله عليه, while explaining the rulings of the Sutrah, writes:
“If one is praying in a house or a small mosque, then it is not permissible to pass until the Qiblah wall unless there is a barrier in between. If one is praying in an open area or a large mosque, then only up to the place of prostration is passing prohibited; beyond that one may pass. The meaning of ‘place of prostration’ is that when a person is standing in Salah and, as a person of humility and devotion should, fixes his gaze upon the place where his forehead will rest in Sajdah, then the nature of sight is that, when there is no obstruction in front, it extends somewhat beyond the exact point upon which it is fixed. All of that area is included in the place of prostration. Passing within that area is Haram (forbidden), and beyond it is permissible.”

(Fatawa Ridawiyyah, vol. 7, p. 254, Raza Foundation, Lahore)

Answered by: Qazi Muteeb Attari (AskMufti Scholar)
Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari
Translated answer
Date: 2nd June 2026.