What Is the Punishment for One Who Distracts Others While Praying?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What is the punishment for one who distracts others while praying?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

Intentionally Distracting Someone Who is Praying

Intentionally distracting someone who is praying is a major sin. This is a type of “preventing” from the way of Allah (Sadd ‘an Sabil Allah).

Allah Most High says, “Indeed, those who prevent from the way of Allah will have a severe punishment because they forgot the Day of Account.” [Quran, 38:26]

Note that if someone unintentionally does so or does so not knowing the ruling, they should be advised with gentleness and kindness.

This ruling also depends on the type of action which was done.

If they did something intending to distract the person praying, then the above ruling applies.

However, if they did something not intending to distract, like speaking to them, although disliked if, without need, it is not a major sin.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.