Problem of cell phones ringing in the mosque

Islam is keen
that the Muslim’s prayer should be perfect in terms of focus and humility,
far removed from anything that may distract a person from prayer. Among the
things to which Islam pays attention in this regard are the following: 

1 – It was
narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “We
used to pray with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) when it was intensely hot. When one of us could not bear to press his
face to the ground (because of the heat), he would spread his garment and
prostrate on it.”

(Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 1150; Muslim, 620). 

Al-Haafiz ibn
Hajar said: 

The apparent
meaning is that they did that in order to remove the distraction caused by
the ground being too hot. 

Fath
al-Baari, 1/493 

2 – It was narrated from
‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
prayed in a shirt on which there were designs, and when he finished praying
he said, “Take this shirt of mine to Abu Jahm and bring me the inbijaaniyyah
(a woollen garment that was plain, with no designs) of Abu Jahm, for it
distracted me from my prayer.” Haashim ibn ‘Urwah narrated from his father
from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “I used to look at its designs whilst I was praying and I was
afraid that it would distract me.” 

(Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 366; Muslim, 556) 

3 – It was
narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: “If the iqaamah for ‘Isha’ prayer is given and dinner is
ready, then start with dinner.” 

(Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 5148; Muslim, 558) 

al-Haafiz
said: 

al-Faakihaani said: This
should be interpreted in general terms, applicable to any situation where
there is a distraction that may lead to a person not being sufficiently
humble and focused (in prayer). 

Fath
al-Baari, 2/160 

4 – It was
narrated that Abu Saalih al-Sammaan said: I saw Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri on a
Friday, praying facing something that screened him from the people. A young
man from among Bani Abi Mu’eet wanted to pass in front of him, and Abu
Sa’eed pushed him in the chest. The young man looked and could not find any
way to pass except in front of him, so he tried again, and Abu Sa’eed pushed
him more strongly than the first time. The young man insulted Abu Sa’eed and
entered upon Marwaan, and complained to him about what Abu Sa’eed had done
to him. Abu Sa’eed came in behind him, and Marwaan said to him, “What is the
matter with you and your brother’s son, O Abu Sa’eed?” He said, “I heard the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say,
‘If any one of you is praying facing something that is screening him from
the people, and someone wants to pass in front of him, let him push him
back, and if he insists then let him fight him, for he is a devil.’”

(Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 487; Muslim, 505) 

Al-Zarqaani
said: The phrase “for he is a devil” means that he is doing the actions of
the Shaytaan, because he is insisting on disturbing someone who is praying. 

(Sharh
al-Zarqaani, 1/442). 

5 – It was narrated that
Abu Sa’eed said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) went into i’tikaaf (retreat) in the mosque, and he heard them
reciting Qur’aan out loud. He drew back the curtain and said, “Each of you
is conversing privately with his Lord, so do not disturb one another or
raise your voices above one another when reading Qur’aan – or he said, when
praying.” 

(Narrated by
Abu Dawood, 1332) 

We should
note in this last hadeeth that the Messenger (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) forbade the people to distract one another from prayer
by their prayer or Qur’aan-reading. He forbade people to distract others
from prayer by their prayer or Qur’aan-reading. He did not like the prayer
or Qur’aan-reading of one person to distract another person from his prayer.

 In
conclusion: Islam encourages focus and humility in prayer, and encourages us
to persist in that. What we see of these mobile phones in the situation you
mention is something that causes people to lose the proper focus and
humility in prayer, because it is a disturbance that affects the spirit and
tranquility of prayer.

 We advise
our brothers who own these phones not to leave them switched on at the time
of prayer, rather they should turn off the ringer.