Ruling on the sutrah and invalidation of one’s prayer if an adult woman walks in front

Question

Praise be to Allah.

The sutrah is a confirmed Sunnah (Sunnah mu’akkadah). The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When one of
you prays, let him pray facing a sutrah, and let him draw close to it.”
Narrated by Abu Dawood with a jayyid isnaad. When the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) travelled, he would take with him a
short piece of wood and pray facing it. It is a confirmed Sunnah but it is
not obligatory, because it is proven that on some occasions, he (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prayed without a sutrah.

With regard to that which invalidates the prayer, it is a
donkey, a black dog, and an adult woman, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The prayer of a Muslim man is
invalidated if he does not have in front of him something like the back of a
saddle, by (the passage in front of him of) a woman, a donkey or a black
dog.” Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh from the hadeeth of Abu Dharr
(may Allaah be pleased with him). Muslim also narrated it from Abu Hurayrah
(may Allaah be pleased with him), without mentioning the word black. The
basic principle is that a general statement is to be interpreted in terms of
the specific statement. In the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas it says “A woman who
menstruates” i.e., an adult woman. The correct view is that which is
indicated by the hadeeth: that these three invalidate the prayer.

With regard to the words of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased
with her), they are her own opinion and conclusion. She said: “What a bad
thing to liken us to donkeys and dogs.” She said that she used to lie in
front of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) when he was praying, but that is not passing in front, because lying is
not called passing . The Sunnah concerning that was not known to her, and
the one who learns something is a proof against the one who is unaware of
it. If a person prays facing someone who is opposite him, sitting or lying
down, that does not affect him. Rather what invalidates the prayer is if it
passes in front of him from one side to another, if the one who passes is
front is one of the three mentioned and passes in front of him, or between
him and the sutrah. If the female is young and has not reached the age of
puberty, or the dog is not black, or something such as a camel or sheep and
the like passes in front, then none of these invalidate the prayer. But it
is prescribed for the one who is praying not to let anything pass in front
of him, even if it does not invalidate the prayer, because of the hadeeth of
Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him), which says that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If one of
you prays facing something that is screening him from the people, and
someone wants to pass [directly] in front of him, let him push him away, and
if he insists then let him fight him, for he is a devil.” Saheeh – agreed upon. End quote.