The Obligation of Aligning the Rows in Prayer
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The questioner : Thank you, may Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh. And regarding the Tarawih prayer, hello.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Regarding standing in prayer, there is a hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) about placing foot by foot and shoulder by shoulder.
The Shaykh : Yes, this applies to Tarawih and other prayers.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is better for those behind the imam to stand close together, leaving no gaps in the row, so that they are tightly packed, shoulder to shoulder and heel to heel. Is that clear?
The questioner : Okay.
The Shaykh : But you must know that some people understood from the fact that the Companions placed their feet against each other’s feet that the meaning is for a person to spread his legs apart until his heel touches his companion’s heel. This is a mistake. If that had been the intention, the Companions would have said, “Even one of us would spread his legs apart until he would wipe his brother’s heel.” Therefore, we say that this action performed by some people has no basis in the Sunnah or in the practice of the Companions. We have witnessed in some mosques that the row does this, and you find one person with the lower part of his body spread apart and a gap between the upper parts of their bodies. This is a wrong understanding, indeed a mistaken understanding of the intent of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding standing close together and the intent of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
The presenter : May Allah benefit us and reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Regarding standing in prayer, there is a hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) about placing foot by foot and shoulder by shoulder.
The Shaykh : Yes, this applies to Tarawih and other prayers.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is better for those behind the imam to stand close together, leaving no gaps in the row, so that they are tightly packed, shoulder to shoulder and heel to heel. Is that clear?
The questioner : Okay.
The Shaykh : But you must know that some people understood from the fact that the Companions placed their feet against each other’s feet that the meaning is for a person to spread his legs apart until his heel touches his companion’s heel. This is a mistake. If that had been the intention, the Companions would have said, “Even one of us would spread his legs apart until he would wipe his brother’s heel.” Therefore, we say that this action performed by some people has no basis in the Sunnah or in the practice of the Companions. We have witnessed in some mosques that the row does this, and you find one person with the lower part of his body spread apart and a gap between the upper parts of their bodies. This is a wrong understanding, indeed a mistaken understanding of the intent of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding standing close together and the intent of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
The presenter : May Allah benefit us and reward you with good.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 717- وجوب تراص الصفوف في الصلاة/سؤال على الهاتف 📞 /ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.