Does a non-distinguishing child break the row?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Some scholars have stated that a boy does not shake hands with men unless he is a distinguishing child, because if he is...
The Shaykh : ...a distinguishing child but not an adult?
The questioner : I read it as "distinguishing," so perhaps I was mistaken. He said that if he is not a distinguishing child, he might pray while in a state of impurity on his body or clothing, or without ablution, thereby breaking the row of men?
The Shaykh : This is not correct. As for the child who has not reached the age of distinction, he is not originally commanded to pray.
The questioner : But he attends.
The Shaykh : The prayer of the non-distinguishing child is valid.
The questioner : He is a small child who stands with us in the rows.
The Shaykh : As for when he is a distinguishing child who knows the prayer and comes to attend and pray with his father, his prayer is valid and he does not break the prayer.
The Shaykh : ...a distinguishing child but not an adult?
The questioner : I read it as "distinguishing," so perhaps I was mistaken. He said that if he is not a distinguishing child, he might pray while in a state of impurity on his body or clothing, or without ablution, thereby breaking the row of men?
The Shaykh : This is not correct. As for the child who has not reached the age of distinction, he is not originally commanded to pray.
The questioner : But he attends.
The Shaykh : The prayer of the non-distinguishing child is valid.
The questioner : He is a small child who stands with us in the rows.
The Shaykh : As for when he is a distinguishing child who knows the prayer and comes to attend and pray with his father, his prayer is valid and he does not break the prayer.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 981 - 4600 هل الصبي غير المميز يقطع الصف؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.