What one does when the iqamah is called while he is praying a voluntary prayer

Question:
The first message in this episode is from one of our brother listeners in Jeddah, who has used the initials S. M. A. as a code for his name. He asks and says: I lead people in prayer in a small mosque in the neighborhood, and sometimes the iqamah is called while some people are praying the rawatib (regular voluntary prayers) in the second row, leaving a gap in the first row, meaning there is space for the person in the second row. So, do we order the ma'mum (those praying behind the imam) to complete the first row, even if that causes harm to those in the second row who are still praying the rawatib? Or how do you guide us? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) urged the straightening of the rows and taking care of them, and completing the first row, then the next, so that a row is not started until the row before it is completed. As long as there is a gap in the first row, it is obligatory to fill it and complete it. When the first row is complete, the second row is started. When the second row is complete, the third is started, and so on.
This is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prescribed regarding the rows. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to urge this. He used to become angry if he saw a gap in the rows. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): "Straighten your rows" or "align your faces."
Taking care of the rows is an obligatory matter, but some people are lax in this, and they do not take care of the rows, except what Allah wills. This is a great deficiency. The naming of the rows is as mentioned in the hadith: As for the one for whom the iqamah is called while he is in a voluntary prayer, this is a point of disagreement among the scholars. Some say he should abandon the voluntary prayer and join the prayer with the imam, and if there is space in front of him in the row, he should move forward to it, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Some scholars hold that he should complete the voluntary prayer he has started, finishing it quickly, then catch up with the imam, unless he fears missing the congregation, in which case he should cut it short, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: And the closest view, and Allah knows best, is that if he is at the end of the voluntary prayer, he should complete it. But if he is at the beginning of it and the iqamah is called, he should cut it short, because continuing in it would cause him to lose a lot of time. As for the one who did not enter the voluntary prayer until after the iqamah was called, this is forbidden, and his voluntary prayer is not valid. The discussion is about the one who was already in it before the iqamah, and then the iqamah was called while he was in the middle of it. As for starting a voluntary prayer after the iqamah, this is forbidden and his voluntary prayer is not valid, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Yes.