If the mosque is full and there is no space except to the left of the imam, is it permissible to pray to his left?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: If the mosque is full and there is no space except to the left of the imam. If the mosque is full and there is no space except to the left of the imam, is it permissible to pray to his left?
Answer:
Because his right side is not empty; there is a row behind him. This is permissible because his right side is occupied and not empty. Yes. And it is not permissible to pray to his left while his right side is empty. However, if there are people on his right, whether beside him or behind him, there is no harm. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: If the mosque is full and there is no space except to the left of the imam. If the mosque is full and there is no space except to the left of the imam, is it permissible to pray to his left?
Answer:
Because his right side is not empty; there is a row behind him. This is permissible because his right side is occupied and not empty. Yes. And it is not permissible to pray to his left while his right side is empty. However, if there are people on his right, whether beside him or behind him, there is no harm. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [725 -3022] إذا كان المسجد ممتلئاً ولا يوجد مكانٌ إلا عن يسار الإمام، فهل تجوز الصلاة عن يساره؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.