Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.

ذِكْرُ الْإِخْبَارِ عَمَّا يَجِبُ عَلَى الْمَرْءِ مِنْ قَصْدِ إِتْمَامِ صَلَاتِهِ بِتَرْكِ الِالْتِفَاتِ فِيهَا

ibnhibban:2287Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyá al-Sājī Bi-al-Baṣrah > Muḥammad b. Khallād al-Bāhilī > Yaḥyá al-Qaṭṭān > Misʿar b. Kidām > Ashʿath b. Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking to the sides during prayer. He said: It is something which the devil snatches from a servant’s prayers. (Using translation from Abū Dāʾūd 910)   

ابن حبّان:٢٢٨٧أَخْبَرَنَا زَكَرِيَّا بْنُ يَحْيَى السَّاجِيُّ بِالْبَصْرَةِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ خَلَّادٍ الْبَاهِلِيُّ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى الْقَطَّانُ عَنْ مِسْعَرِ بْنِ كِدَامٍ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ بْنِ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سُئِلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنِ الِالْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ فَقَالَ «إِنَّمَا هُوَ اخْتِلَاسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلَاةِ الْعَبْدِ»  


See similar narrations below:

Collected by Bukhārī, Nasāʾī, Abū Dāwūd, Tirmidhī, Aḥmad, Nasāʾī's Kubrá, Suyūṭī
bukhari:751Musaddad > Abū al-Aḥwaṣ > Ashʿath b. Sulaym from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking hither and thither in prayer. He replied, "It is a way of stealing by which Satan takes away (a portion) from the prayer of a person."  

البخاري:٧٥١حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَشْعَثُ بْنُ سُلَيْمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنْ الاِلْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ فَقَالَ هُوَ اخْتِلاَسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلاَةِ الْعَبْدِ  

bukhari:3291al-Ḥasan b. al-Rabīʿ > Abū al-Aḥwaṣ > Ashʿath from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked the Prophet ﷺ about one's looking here and there during the prayer. He replied, "It is what Satan steals from the prayer of any one of you."  

البخاري:٣٢٩١حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ الرَّبِيعِ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ قَالَ قَالَتْ

عَائِشَةُ ؓ سَأَلْتُ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ عَنِ الْتِفَاتِ الرَّجُلِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ فَقَالَ هُوَ اخْتِلاَسٌ يَخْتَلِسُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلاَةِ أَحَدِكُمْ  

nasai:1196ʿAmr b. ʿAlī > ʿAbd al-Raḥman > Zāʾidah > Ashʿath b. Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

"I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking here and there during prayer. He said: 'That is something that the Shaitan snatches from one's prayer.'"  

النسائي:١١٩٦أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَلِيٍّ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زَائِدَةُ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ بْنِ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ؓ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنْ الاِلْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ فَقَالَ اخْتِلاَسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ  

nasai:1199Hilāl b. al-ʿAlāʾ b. Hilāl > al-Muʿāfá b. Sulaymān > al-Qāsim / Ibn Maʿn > al-Aʿmash > ʿUmārah > Abū ʿAṭiyyah

"Aishah said: 'Turning around during prayer is something that the Shaitan snatches from one's prayer.'"  

النسائي:١١٩٩أَخْبَرَنَا هِلاَلُ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ بْنِ هِلاَلٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْمُعَافَى بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الْقَاسِمُ وَهُوَ ابْنُ مَعْنٍ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ عَنْ عُمَارَةَ عَنْ أَبِي عَطِيَّةَ قَالَ قَالَتْ

عَائِشَةُ إِنَّ الاِلْتِفَاتَ فِي الصَّلاَةِ اخْتِلاَسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الصَّلاَةِ  

abudawud:910Musaddad > Abū al-Aḥwaṣ > al-Ashʿath / Ibn Sulaym from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking to the sides during prayer. He said: It is something which the devil snatches from a servant’s prayers.  

أبو داود:٩١٠حَدَّثَنَا مُسَدَّدٌ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ عَنِ الأَشْعَثِ يَعْنِي ابْنَ سُلَيْمٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ؓ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنِ الْتِفَاتِ الرَّجُلِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ فَقَالَ إِنَّمَا هُوَ اخْتِلاَسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلاَةِ الْعَبْدِ  

tirmidhi:590Ṣāliḥ b. ʿAbdullāh > Abū al-Aḥwaṣ > Ashʿath b. Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

"I asked the Messenger of Allah about looking around during the Salat. He said: 'It is a portion which the Shaitan snatches during a man's prayer.'"  

Abū ʿĪsá said that this Ḥadīth is Ḥasan-Gharīb.
الترمذي:٥٩٠حَدَّثَنَا صَالِحُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الأَحْوَصِ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ بْنِ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنْ الاِلْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلاَةِ قَالَ هُوَ اخْتِلاَسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلاَةِ الرَّجُلِ  

قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ
ahmad:24746Abū Saʿīd > Zāʾidah > Ashʿath b. Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ al-Muḥāribī from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking hither and thither in prayer. He replied, "It is a way of stealing by which Satan takes away (a portion) from the prayer of a person." (Using translation from Bukhārī 751)  

أحمد:٢٤٧٤٦حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو سَعِيدٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زَائِدَةُ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَشْعَثُ بْنُ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ الْمُحَارِبِيُّ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ عَنِ الِالْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ فَقَالَ اخْتِلَاسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلَاةِ الْعَبْدِ  

ahmad:24412Muʿāwiyah b. ʿAmr > Zāʾidah > Ashʿath b. Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking to the sides during prayer. He said: It is something which the devil snatches from a servant’s prayers. (Using translation from Abū Dāʾūd 910)   

أحمد:٢٤٤١٢حَدَّثَنَا مُعَاوِيَةُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زَائِدَةُ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ بْنِ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ عَنِ التَّلَفُّتِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ فَقَالَ اخْتِلَاسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلَاةِ الْعَبْدِ  

nasai-kubra:1123Hilāl b. al-ʿAlāʾ b. Hilāl > al-Muʿāfá / Ibn Sulaymān > al-Qāsim Wahū Ibn Maʿn > al-Aʿmash > ʿUmārah > Abū ʿAṭiyyah

"Aishah said: 'Turning around during prayer is something that the Shaitan snatches from one's prayer.'" (Using translation from Nasāʾī 1199)  

الكبرى للنسائي:١١٢٣أَخْبَرَنِي هِلَالُ بْنُ الْعَلَاءِ بْنِ هِلَالٍ حَدَّثَنَا الْمُعَافَى وَهُوَ ابْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ حَدَّثَنَا الْقَاسِمُ وَهُوَ ابْنُ مَعْنٍ عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ عَنْ عُمَارَةَ عَنْ أَبِي عَطِيَّةَ قَالَ قَالَتْ

عَائِشَةُ إِنَّ «الِالْتِفَاتَ فِي الصَّلَاةِ اخْتِلَاسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ»  

nasai-kubra:530ʿAmr b. ʿAlī > ʿAbd al-Raḥman > Zāʾidah > Ashʿath b. Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ from his father > Masrūq > ʿĀʾishah

I asked Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking hither and thither in prayer. He replied, "It is a way of stealing by which Satan takes away (a portion) from the prayer of a person." (Using translation from Bukhārī 751)   

الكبرى للنسائي:٥٣٠أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَلِيٍّ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زَائِدَةُ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ بْنِ أَبِي الشَّعْثَاءِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ عَنِ الِالْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ قَالَ «اخْتِلَاسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ» خَالَفَهُ إِسْرَائِيلُ  

nasai-kubra:531Aḥmad b. Bakkār al-Ḥarrānī > Makhlad / Ibn Yazīd al-Ḥarrānī > Isrāʾīl > Ashʿath

I asked Messenger of Allah ﷺ about looking hither and thither in prayer. He replied, "It is a way of stealing by which Satan takes away (a portion) from the prayer of a person." (Using translation from Bukhārī 751)  

الكبرى للنسائي:٥٣١أَخْبَرَنِي أَحْمَدُ بْنُ بَكَّارٍ الْحَرَّانِيُّ عَنْ مَخْلَدٍ وَهُوَ ابْنُ يَزِيدَ الْحَرَّانِيُّ عَنْ إِسْرَائِيلَ عَنْ أَشْعَثَ عَنْ أَبِي عَطِيَّةَ الْكُوفِيِّ عَنْ مَسْرُوقٍ عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ

سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ عَنِ الِالْتِفَاتِ فِي الصَّلَاةِ قَالَ «هُوَ اخْتِلَاسٌ يَخْتَلِسُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنْ صَلَاةِ الْعَبْدِ»