The ruling on the followers standing in the second row to the right or left of the imam

Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. A listener sent a question, saying: I joined the Fajr prayer late, missing one rak'ah. I found the first row full, and the second row had a small number of people, not exceeding seven, on the left side of the row. So I did not line up with them. There were two of us with me, so we lined up in the middle of the row behind the imam. Is what we did contrary to the Sunnah, since the imam told us to do so? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
Yes, this is contrary to the Sunnah for there to be a gap in the row and for the row to be scattered. If you had lined up with these people, that would have been obligatory, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded filling the gaps and the worshippers to be tightly packed in the rows. It is obligatory for you to line up with these people. You can guide them to the fact that the better and more excellent thing is for the beginning of the row to be behind the imam, aligned with the space behind the imam. But if they pray to the right of the imam or to the left of the imam, there is no harm, as long as there is a complete row in front of them. Yes.