The Ruling on Preventing Children from Sitting in the First Row

The questioner : Yes. Regarding sitting in the first row in the mosque.

The Shaykh : The answer is that it is not permissible to prevent children from sitting in the first row of the mosque, unless they cause harm. As long as they are well-behaved, it is not permissible to remove them from the first row. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: They have the right to it. These children arrived first to what no one else had arrived at before them, so they have more right to it than others. If you say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , the answer is that the meaning of this hadith is to encourage those of sound mind and understanding to move forward. Yes, if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had said, "Let no one be near me except those of sound mind and understanding," then this would be a prohibition against children approaching the first row. But when he said, "Let those of sound mind and understanding be near me," the meaning is to encourage these mature, rational adults to move forward so that they are the ones who are close to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
And because if we delay the children from the first row, they will be alone in the second row, and their playing and disturbance will lead to consequences that would not occur if they were in the first row and we separated them. This is an obvious matter.