Source : Shafiifiqh.com / 4 Dec 2013

Question:

As-salamu ‘alaykum. In a masjid, we quite often have carpets that have musallas to demarcate an individual’s prayer space in the carpet design itself. Can this ‘musalla’ be considered as a sutra or is it still recommended to place something in front of one? Wasalam.

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

Placing something as a barrier [sutrah] between one praying and passersby is recommended. In Sharh al-Muhadhdhab 3/199, Imam Nawawi related an ijma’ from Shaykh Abu Hamid on this.

Our fiqh books mention that in the instance one cannot find a proper sutrah, then one should layout a prayer mat or make a line for his sutrah. In Tuhfat al-Muhtaj 2/157, Ibn Hajar mentioned this and other works relate it likewise; Tuhfah‘s text mentioning “musalla” and Sharwani related from Mughni al-Muhtaj and Sharh al-Manhaj that this would be “like a sajadah”.

In Hashiyat al-Tarmasi 2/377, it is related from Babeli that the rugs in the mosque are not intended by a “sajadah” because they do not serve the purpose of a sutrah for one who is standing on them performing the prayer. And this is also related in Shaykh Sulayman al-Jamal’s Futuhat al-Wahhab bi Tawdih Sharh al-Manhaj 2/483 from Birmawi.

And Allah knows best.