Is it permissible for the ma'mum to stand in front of the imam?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says (may Allah preserve you): His other question is, what is the ruling on praying in front of the imam in the Makkah Haram and outside the Haram? We ask for clarification.
Answer:
The position of the ma'mum requires that he be behind the imam. It is permissible for him to be to the imam's right or to be in the middle of the row with the imam; this is permissible. As for being in front of him, that is not permissible. Yes.
He says (may Allah preserve you): His other question is, what is the ruling on praying in front of the imam in the Makkah Haram and outside the Haram? We ask for clarification.
Answer:
The position of the ma'mum requires that he be behind the imam. It is permissible for him to be to the imam's right or to be in the middle of the row with the imam; this is permissible. As for being in front of him, that is not permissible. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 1957 - هل يجوز للمأموم أن يقف أمام الإمام؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.