Who passes in front of a praying person...

Abul-Juhaim `Abdullah bin Al-Harith
(May Allah be pleased with him) said:

The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,

"If the person who passes in front of a praying person,
realizes the enormity of the sinfulness of this act,
it will have been better for him to wait
forty than to pass in front of him.''

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

[The narrator was not sure whether
the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said forty days, months or years.]


Commentary:


We learn from this Hadith that it is a great sin to pass before
a person who is offering Salat. People should also take care that
they do not offer Salat without placing a Sutrah in front of them.
A Sutrah refers to anything that a person sets up in front of him;
this could be a stick, another person praying in front of him or
even a line which he can draw on the ground. The distance between
the person offering his Salat and the Sutrah should not be more
than approximately one meter and a half. If the distance is longer
than this, then it is not unlawful to pass before someone offering Salat.