Annoying Things People Do During Salat

Prophet Muhammad pbuh encouraged muslims to do their salat (prayer) in congregation, or jama'ah, for it supposedly brings more benefit, both socially and spiritually. As in any social situations, there are certain unspoken rules on how to behave and these rules are very prone to be perhaps unconsciously broken. Sometimes, people do annoying things during their salat which may distract others from performing their obligations as perfect as possible.

One of the most common disturbance is marathon throat-clearing. One guy clears his throat, and suddenly someone does too, and then the next guy, and the guy after that, so on and so forth. Maybe it spreads to the girls too, but I never really observed that: I always act as the pious guy at the front of the congregation, hahaha. I've heard about yawning being contagious, but never about throat-clearing being contagious.

I'm not blaming anyone for clearing his/her throat, but please, try to make it not so obvious. I appreciate the people who have the decency to cover their mouths in such event. Back-to-back coughing is annoying, because it distracts the congregation and it's gross...well, mostly it's gross.

Another version of this offense is sneezing without covering one's mouth. Outside salat, it's disrespectful; during salat, it's simply disgusting and unacceptable: not only that you're distracting someone from their spiritual quest, you're possibly transmitting bacteria or other yucky stuffs.

Next offender is joint cracking. It's not the freaking gymnastics, it's salat! You don't really need to crack your joints and make annoying popping sounds during a prayer. Pop here, click there, and then crack. Blurgh. Also, I have a special shout-out to those who crack their necks: it's extremely horrifying, stop it!

Then comes the loud worshipper. This type of guy/girl probably feels better by reciting their surats and prayers a little bit louder. Up to the level of a whisper, it's completely fine by me. Anything beyond that, you need to turn the volume down. You're not helping anyone by showing off what you're reciting, and it's disturbing. The prayer is between you and God; God is All-Hearing no matter how small your voice is.

Well, this one should've been in the first place, but I decided to save the best for last: never ever pass gas in the mass. The reason for this is obvious, duh. It's disgusting, annoying, distracting, curiosity-triggering, laughter-causing, and you know what's coming after this kind of eruption.

I think I should stop here because I've wasted a couple of hours just to be rudely honest with fellow worshippers. To be clear, I'm not bad mouthing anyone. It's just that if people stop doing those things, it'll be a better world for everyone.