What is preferable for sitting on Friday: the second row that is close, or the first row that is far?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The questioner says: I entered the mosque before the Friday sermon, and I found a place in front of the imam, but in the second row, and I found a place in the first row
The Shaykh:
in front of the imam.
The questioner:
Yes, in front of the imam in the second row. He says: I entered the mosque before the Friday sermon, and I found a place in front of the imam, but in the second row,
The Shaykh:
meaning opposite the imam, he is in front of the imam, before the imam.
The questioner:
He sat in the first row, but far from the imam at the edge of the mosque. So what is preferable for sitting?
The Shaykh:
If being close to the imam is so that you hear his voice and face him, this is better than being far away. So being in the second row close to the imam is better than being in the first row and far from the imam.
The questioner says: I entered the mosque before the Friday sermon, and I found a place in front of the imam, but in the second row, and I found a place in the first row
The Shaykh:
in front of the imam.
The questioner:
Yes, in front of the imam in the second row. He says: I entered the mosque before the Friday sermon, and I found a place in front of the imam, but in the second row,
The Shaykh:
meaning opposite the imam, he is in front of the imam, before the imam.
The questioner:
He sat in the first row, but far from the imam at the edge of the mosque. So what is preferable for sitting?
The Shaykh:
If being close to the imam is so that you hear his voice and face him, this is better than being far away. So being in the second row close to the imam is better than being in the first row and far from the imam.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، باب الشفاعة — youtube.com (1:04:17)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.