The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Let those of you who are mature in mind and understanding stand closest to me, then those who come next.”

The questioner : Sometimes, for example, some children get ahead to the easiest spot, and then the men come. When the men arrive, they move the children back, and the men sit in their places behind the imam. Of course, this is contrary to the fact that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . But if the men were late and the children got there first, do the men have the right to move them back just because they arrived before them?

The Shaykh : In my understanding, the issue here differs depending on whether the children are behind the imam or not. If they are behind the imam, they are moved from that position based on the hadith I mentioned. However, if they are in the first row, on the right or left, far from being directly behind the imam, this is a different ruling, and the hadith I mentioned does not apply to them. In that case, if the boys are on the right or left side of the row, one should consider, in understanding the matter, whether they are of the type who are known, or whose behavior is known through experience, because the people of the mosque know the children. If they are known to be mischievous, joking, and laughing, and perhaps they are in the row now, but moments later you see them leave the row and run off... if the children are of this type, they should be moved back. But if they are discerning and maintain the prayer and its etiquettes, they should be left where they are, and not driven away or moved back, unless the report in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad" and "Sunan Abu Dawud" from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is authentic: “That he would arrange the women—meaning, he would arrange the men first—then the boys, then the women.” This hadith was narrated by the people we mentioned and others through a chain that includes Shahr ibn Hawshab. There is disagreement regarding Shahr ibn Hawshab’s narrations, and none of the critics has raised his narrations to the level of a sahih (authentic) hadith, though some of the lenient scholars place his narrations at the level of a hasan (good) hadith. I am convinced that Shahr ibn Hawshab had poor memory, as indicated by his biography mentioned in the biographical dictionaries, including "Tahdhib al-Tahdhib." Therefore, any hadith that Shahr ibn Hawshab narrated alone, without a supporting chain, cannot be used as evidence. Consequently, I do not act upon this hadith. If there were a supporting narrator for Shahr who was of similar status, we would have raised his hadith to the level of being used as evidence, at least to the level of a hasan hadith. But since he narrated this alone, and Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity, it is not permissible to take it as a sunnah. Therefore, we say, with the detail mentioned previously: if the boys are discerning and aware... in the prayer, the blame is not on them, but on the men who were late and did not take their places in their row. This is my opinion, and Allah knows best.