One who is alone behind the rows: should he align with the imam?

The questioner : Now, if or , and one person comes alone... the row, does he squeeze in with the imam? Or pray behind him? Or pull one person—may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : Squeeze in with the imam, what do you mean?

The questioner : He enters and prays with the imam.

Another questioner : Beside the imam.

The Shaykh : Can he reach him?!

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I imagine that if he can reach him without disrupting the rows, then this is his obligation. But if he can only reach him by disrupting the rows, as you mentioned, then this disruption is corruption on earth, so it is not permissible. In this regard, there is a hadith that some people cite as evidence so that this lone person does not pray alone. It is narrated by Abu Ya'la in his Musnad, stating: . Even though the chain of this hadith is weak and cannot be used as evidence, it also involves corruption of the row in front of him, because a gap will appear in it. This gap might be filled by someone who has some alertness and understanding, but in the end, if they all follow suit, the gap will remain in the row. So, given that the hadith is not authentic, and given that there is a gap, in this case, I believe that if this lone person cannot find a space to join, he prays alone, and his prayer is valid. In my opinion, regarding the rows known today, a person can find space not just for one individual, but for many people, 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 all ease and gentleness, so he does not pray alone. However, if we imagine a row according to the Sunnah, like a solid structure, then in that case, he prays alone, and his prayer is valid.
How can his prayer be valid when the Messenger (peace be upon him) negated the validity of this prayer for the one who prays alone behind the row?
I say: This is because, in my opinion, some scholars make a clever point that he does not pray; he remains standing like that. I believe there is some validity to this opinion, and I do not say it is a rigid adherence to the text, because all legal rulings are tied to verification and capability. The general principle is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: , and the hadith that confirms this meaning is: , and His saying, the Exalted, in the Noble Qur'an: , and his saying, (peace be upon him): .
By the consensus of Muslims, 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—however, 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 explicitly stated in the hadith of 'Imran ibn Husayn. So, if one is unable to recite the opening of the Book (because he arrived and entered the mosque while the imam was bowing), he bows with the imam, and it counts as a unit of prayer for him, even if he did not recite the opening of the Book, because he was unable to. And he (peace be upon him) said: . And it came in some hadiths that we have traced in some of my books that whoever catches the imam while he is bowing has caught the unit of prayer.
The point is that this person was counted a unit of prayer even though he left a pillar, which is the recitation of the opening of the Book. Why was this unit 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, preoccupied, talking to his companion, and so on, until the time for reciting the opening of the Book passed, and then he caught the imam in bowing, this is not considered catching the unit of prayer, because he did not recite the opening of the Book, 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 from here and squeeze in from there, and so on, and was unable to, Allah, 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 been lifted from him, because he has no prayer [in the row], just as the known ruling was lifted from the one who caught the imam in bowing, which is that there is no prayer for one who has not recited the opening of the Book.