How to Straighten the Rows in Congregational Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa No. ( 18919 )
Q: Two people were discussing how to straighten the rows for those praying in congregation in the mosques. One of them said: It is obligatory for the one praying in congregation to place the tips of his toes on the line marked in the row for the worshippers while standing, and to align his knees with his neighbors in the row while sitting for the tashahhud, regardless of the length or shortness of the limbs. The other said: It is obligatory for the one praying in congregation to ensure the alignment of the heels and shoulders while standing, while in sitting, the shoulders must be aligned regardless of whether the knees are aligned with his neighbors in the row; because the moving limbs are not equal, and because they are both exerting effort in this matter, I ask you to kindly clarify the correct Sharia method that must be followed during prayer, both in standing and in sitting, so that the matter becomes clear to them. May Allah reward you with good and guide you to what He loves and is pleased with.
A : It is the Sunnah for Muslims to straighten their rows and for the rows to be
compact, and for every Muslim individual to strive to take care of this, and for the imam to urge them to do so before entering into prayer, and to straighten the crookedness of the row following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); for it is established from Sammak ibn Harb who said: I heard al-Nu'man ibn Bashir say:Riyad as-Salihin 1089 , narrated by the Imam Muslim in (his Sahih, vol. 4, p. 157) with the commentary of al-Nawawi , and narrated by Imam Ahmad in (his Musnad, in similar wording, vol. 4, p. 272), and in another wording: the hadith. See (Musnad of Imam Ahmad vol. 4, p. 277) and it was narrated by al-Nasa'i in (his Sunan) in similar wording. And for what Anas narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Sahih al-Bukhari 723 , and in a narration: Sahih al-Bukhari 722 , narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim and this is the wording of al-Bukhari (vol. 1, p. 177) and narrated by Imam Ahmad in (his Musnad, vol. 2, p. 314 and vol. 3, p. 122). And it was narrated by Imam Muslim in (the Sahih, vol. 4, p. 156) with the commentary of al-Nawawi also from Anas ibn Malik with the wording: He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Sunan Abi Dawud 668Sahih (Al-Albani) , and it was narrated by Imam Ahmad with this wording (vol. 3, p. 254). And for what Salim ibn Abi al-Ja'd narrated, saying: I heard al-Nu'man ibn Bashir say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Abi Dawud 663Sahih (Al-Albani) , narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim , and this is the wording of al-Bukhari in (his Sahih, vol. 1, p. 176). And for what Anas narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: Mishkat al-Masabih 1086 , and one of us would press his shoulder against his brother's shoulder and his foot against his foot, narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim and this is the wording of al-Bukhari in (his Sahih, vol. 1, p. 177). So the Muslim should fear Allah in implementing this Sunnah to the best of his ability, and let him beware that this results in harming the worshippers, especially with the crowding of the row, which affects the worshipper's khushu' (humility), and his preoccupation with that Sunnah leads to neglecting the obligatory or harming the worshippers, for the intended purpose is to straighten the row to the extent of ability, and in the previous hadiths is sufficient for whoever reflects upon them, and everyone should observe alignment by the heels and shoulders, not the knees, as the authentic Sunnah is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: Two people were discussing how to straighten the rows for those praying in congregation in the mosques. One of them said: It is obligatory for the one praying in congregation to place the tips of his toes on the line marked in the row for the worshippers while standing, and to align his knees with his neighbors in the row while sitting for the tashahhud, regardless of the length or shortness of the limbs. The other said: It is obligatory for the one praying in congregation to ensure the alignment of the heels and shoulders while standing, while in sitting, the shoulders must be aligned regardless of whether the knees are aligned with his neighbors in the row; because the moving limbs are not equal, and because they are both exerting effort in this matter, I ask you to kindly clarify the correct Sharia method that must be followed during prayer, both in standing and in sitting, so that the matter becomes clear to them. May Allah reward you with good and guide you to what He loves and is pleased with.
A : It is the Sunnah for Muslims to straighten their rows and for the rows to be
compact, and for every Muslim individual to strive to take care of this, and for the imam to urge them to do so before entering into prayer, and to straighten the crookedness of the row following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); for it is established from Sammak ibn Harb who said: I heard al-Nu'man ibn Bashir say:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) directed us to keep our rows as straight as arrows. He continued stressing this until he realized that we had learnt it from him (recognized its significance). One day he came into the mosque and stood up. He was just about to say Takbir (Allah is Greater) when he noticed a man whose chest was projected from the row, so he said, "O slaves of Allah, you must straighten your rows or Allah will certainly put your faces in opposite directions."
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يسوي صفوفنا حتى كأنما يسوي بها القداح، حتى رأى أنا قد عقلنا عنه، ثم خرج يومًا فقام حتى كاد يكبر، فرأى رجلاً باديًا صدره من الصف فقال: ( عباد الله لتسوون صفوفكم أو ليخالفن الله بين وجوهكم )The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to straighten the row until he made it like a spear or an arrow
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يسوي الصف حتى يجعله مثل الرمح أو القدحStraighten your rows as the straightening of rows is essential for a perfect and correct prayer.
سووا صفوفكم فإن تسوية الصفوف من إقامة الصلاةand straighten the rows for the prayer, as the straightening of the rows is amongst those things which make your prayer a correct and perfect one.
وأقيموا الصف في الصلاة فإن إقامة الصف من حسن الصلاةStraighten your rows for the straightening of the rows is part of perfecting the prayer.
سووا صفوفكم فإن تسوية الصف من تمام الصلاةDo not be irregular
لتسوون صفوفكم أو ليخالفن الله بين وجوهكمMake the rows perfect, for I can see you behind my back.
أقيموا الصفوف فإني أراكم من وراء ظهري
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.