If a person is alone behind the rows, should he join the imam, pull someone from the row in front of him, or pray alone?

The questioner : Now, if or , and one person comes alone... the row, does he join the imam, or pray behind him, or pull someone? May Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : Join the imam, what do you mean?

The questioner : He enters and prays with the imam.
Another questioner: Next to the imam.

The Shaykh : He is able to reach him!

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I think that if he is able to reach him without disrupting the rows, then it is obligatory for him to do so. But if he can only reach him by disrupting the rows, as I mentioned, then this disruption is a corruption in... so it is not permissible. In this regard, there is a hadith that some people cite as evidence for not having this lone person pray alone. It is a hadith narrated by Abu Ya'la in his Musnad, which says: "Let him pull a man in front of him to pray with him." Even though this hadith has a weak chain and is not used as evidence, it also involves corruption of the row in front of him, because a gap will be created in it. This gap may be able to be filled by someone who has some alertness and understanding, but in the end, if they all continue to do this, the gap will remain in the row. So, given that the hadith is not authentic and that it creates a gap, in this case, I believe that if this lone person cannot find a space to join, he should pray alone, and his prayer is valid. In my opinion, regarding the rows as they are known today, a person can find a space not just for one individual, but for many individuals, because people do not stand in the tight formation that the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do when he (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered them to straighten the rows, as Anas ibn Malik said in Sahih al-Bukhari: This tight formation does not exist today. Therefore, it is very easy for a person to squeeze himself between two people with ease and gentleness, so he does not pray alone. However, if we imagine a row according to the Sunnah, like a tightly packed wall, then in that case, he prays alone and his prayer is valid. How can his prayer be valid when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) negated the validity of this prayer for the one who prays alone behind the row? I say this because some scholars, in my opinion, hold a weak view that he should not pray and should remain standing like that. I believe that this view involves a halt, and I do not say it is a rigid adherence to the text, because all legal rulings are tied to verification and ability. The general principle is the saying of Allah the Exalted: and the hadith that confirms this meaning: and His saying in the Noble Qur'an: and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): It is the consensus of the Muslims that if one prays the obligatory prayer while sitting, his prayer is invalid. But if he prays the obligatory prayer while sitting, his prayer is invalid, but if he is unable to pray standing, does he abandon the prayer? No, Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. He prays sitting, and if he cannot, then on his side, as came explicitly in the hadith of 'Imran ibn Husayn. So, if one is unable to recite the opening of the Book because he came and entered the mosque and the imam was bowing, he bows with the imam, and it is counted for him as a rak'ah, even though he did not recite the opening of the Book because he was unable to. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And it came in some hadiths that we extracted in some of my books that if one catches the imam bowing, he has caught the rak'ah. The point is that this person was counted a rak'ah even though he left a pillar, which is the recitation of the Fatihah. Why was this rak'ah counted for him even though he missed the pillar because he was unable to? Whereas, if he came to the mosque and the imam was standing, and he sat down, finished talking to his companion, and so on, until the time for reciting the Fatihah passed, and then he caught the imam in bowing, this is not considered catching the rak'ah because he did not recite the Fatihah, and he was able to recite it. If this is known in all legal rulings, then this person who came to the mosque and tried to squeeze in here and squeeze in there, and so on, and was unable to do so, Allah the Mighty and Majestic does not burden him except what he is able to do. So he prays in the row alone, because the known ruling has fallen off him, because there is no prayer for him, just as the known ruling has fallen off the one who caught the imam in bowing, which is that there is no prayer for one who does not recite the Fatihah.