It is from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) for both the imām and the one praying individually to utilise a sutrah (barrier) when performing ṣalāh. This is evidenced by the Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و سلم) statement: “Anyone performing ṣalāh should pray in the direction of a sutrah, to which he draws near.”^[1] As for those praying behind an imām, the sutrah of their imām is sufficient.

The utilisation of a sutrah is not obligatory as narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbās (رضي الله عنهما): “The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) prayed in an open space without anything before him.”^[2]

The sutrah should be an upright object such as a horse’s saddle, measuring an arm’s length and may be either thin or broad in construction.

The wisdom behind the utilisation of a sutrah is to prevent anyone passing in front of the one performing ṣalāh, and to prevent him from being distracted during his ṣalāh by his surroundings in the area behind his sutrah.

If the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) was to pray in the desert, he would pray towards a fixed object like a tree, stone or stick. If he was not able to lodge a stick in the ground, then he simply placed it horizontally in front of himself.