The ruling on pushing in the rows until it harms the neighbor

The questioner : Yes. The Shaykh, may Allah be good to you. People write in their correspondence. They pack their feet very tightly until they squeeze their neighbors, and they complete the row in this manner. It was reported in this sense that the Companions used to press their feet against one another. Yes. And they say that packing the rows kills the trial. And people differ in their practices.

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the Companions would place a person’s heel against his brother’s heel and his shoulder against his shoulder to ensure straightness and tightness of the rows, but not as some people do now, spreading their legs until they squeeze those around them, even though the shoulder is far from the other shoulder. This is not from the Sunnah. If you stand naturally, the shoulders will align with one another, and likewise the heels will align with one another, but the trial.
But if it causes harm, I told you a moment ago that it is not the crowding or packing that prevents the gaps for Shaytan, nor is it the crowding that leaves a person unable to move. Some people crowd so much that they cannot prostrate except by prostrating with the person next to them due to the tightness. This is not what is required. I say that if harm results from it, the scholars said that one should not commit harm for the sake of a recommended act. Rather, one should avoid harm. They even said regarding sitting on one’s left foot (tawarruk) that if a person, when he sits on his left foot in the final sitting, harms his neighbor, then it is better that he not sit in that manner.