The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood and led the dawn prayer while he was behind him. As he recited, the recitation became confused for him. When he finished his prayer, he said, "If only you had seen me and Iblis. I reached out with my hand and kept strangling him until I felt the coolness of his saliva between these two fingers of mine, the thumb and the one next to it. Were it not for the supplication of my brother Sulayman, he would have been left tied to one of the pillars of the mosque for the children of Medina to play with. So whoever among you is able to prevent anyone from coming between him and the qiblah, let him do so."
أن رسول الله ﷺ قام فصلى صلاة الصبح وهو خلفه، فقرأ، فالتبست عليه القراءة. فلما فرغ من صلاته قال: لو رأيتموني وإبليس، فأهويت بيدي، فما زلت أخنقه حتى وجدت برد لعابه بين أصبعي هاتين- الإبهام والتي تليها- ولولا دعوة أخي سليمان لأصبح مربوطا بسارية من سواري المسجد، يتلاعب به صبيان المدينة. فمن استطاع منكم أن لا يحول بينه وبين القبلة أحد فليفعل.
Imam Ahmad narrated it (11780) from Abu Ahmad, who said, Musarra bin Mabad narrated to us, Abu Ubayd, the doorkeeper of Sulayman, narrated to me, he said, "I saw Ata bin Yazid Laythi standing in prayer, wearing a black turban with its end hanging down behind him, his beard dyed yellow. I went to pass in front of him, but he stopped me, then said, 'Abu Saeed Khudri narrated to me,'" and he mentioned something similar.Its isnad is hasan because of Musarra bin Mabad, who is Lakhmi, Filastini, Maqdisi. Opinions about him differed. Abu Hatim said, "A shaykh, there is no harm in him." Ibn Hibban mentioned him once in Thiqat (7/524) and again in Majruhin (1093), where he said, "He was among those who transmitted, on their own authority, from trustworthy narrators things that were not among the narrations of reliable transmitters, despite the scarcity of his narrations. It is not permissible to rely on him when he narrates alone." However, his hadith is hasan, and so Dhahabi said in Kashif, "Deemed trustworthy," and Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Truthful, but has some lapses." Haythami said in Majma (2/87), "Ahmad narrated it, and its narrators are trustworthy," except that he did not mention his statement, "Whoever among you is able..."Abu Dawud narrated the hadith (699) from Ahmad bin Siraj Razi, who said, Abu Ahmad Zubayri informed us, Musarra bin Mabad Lakhmi informed us, with the same chain, but restricting it to his statement, "Whoever among you is able to prevent anyone from coming between him and the qibla, let him do so." See the chapter on preventing one from passing in front of the person praying. Abu Ahmad is Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Zubayr Zubayri, one of the narrators relied upon by the major hadith compilers.As for what Abd bin Humayd narrated (946) from Ali bin Asim, who said, Abu Harun Abdi narrated to us, from Abu Saeed Khudri, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "I went out for the morning prayer, and Satan met me at the porch, the porch of the masjid, and he pushed against me until I could feel his hair. I took hold of him and strangled him until I could feel the coolness of his tongue on my hand. Had it not been for the supplication of my brother Sulayman, he would have woken up killed, with you all looking at him," this hadith contains Abu Harun Abdi, who is Umara bin Juwayn, with the jim as a diminutive, well known by his kunya, disregarded as a narrator, and some accused him of lying.As for what was narrated from Abdullah bin Masud, who said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "He passed by Satan, and I seized him and strangled him, until I could feel the coolness of his tongue in my hand, and he said, 'You have hurt me, you have hurt me,'" this is an interrupted chain. Imam Ahmad narrated it (3926) from Aswad bin Amir, who said, Israil informed us, he said, Abu Ishaq mentioned, from Abu Ubayda, from Abdullah. Abu Ubayda bin Abdullah bin Masud did not hear directly from his father. Haythami said in Majma (1/288), "Ahmad narrated it, and Abu Ubayda did not hear from his father, but the rest of its narrators are the narrators of Sahih."