The issue of the imam not praying in the mihrab and the necessity for people to move forward to use the wall as a sutrah.

The questioner : The sutrah in prayer is approximately 30 centimeters after the position of prostration, which is the width of a sheep’s passage. When the imam comes near the mihrab... the imam prays facing a wall, and there are worshippers behind him. So the imam takes up a space of about... a full row, and those behind him have about a meter and a half or more between them and the wall... So if there is a mihrab, the imam takes his prostration position inside the niche in the wall, so after the prayer, their sunnah prayer would be facing a real sutrah. But if he wants to pray without a mihrab, they will have to move forward, and the whole mosque will have to move forward a second time after the prayer for the sunnah prayer, for example. They will all move forward, which will cause confusion and create room for disorder.

The Shaykh : So, in your opinion, we must deepen the mihrabs so that the imam is submerged in them?

The questioner : No, the mihrab now takes up...

The Shaykh : I know the mihrab you mean now, but the meaning of your words leads us to deepen the mihrab because his standing position is with the wall to his right and left; in that case, he will not take up from...

Another questioner : No, it is approximately the width of a sheep’s passage. When he takes the sheep’s passage from the wall into the mosque, the sheep’s passage for the imam, and the worshippers behind him still have room to take a sutrah after... But when...

Another questioner : No, that is sound... the mihrab...

The Shaykh : No, I think you do not have the picture of the matter as I do, at least I say. Did you give the worshipper a meter and a half with the sutrah?

The questioner : The worshipper takes a meter and a quarter, 30 centimeters, about a meter.

The Shaykh : Okay; a meter and a half, we do not want precision in the equation now! The matter here is approximate, not definitive. The precise definition in legal rulings is not in the hypotheticals! So you gave the worshipper a meter and a half.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Good; so if the wall is here, the first row needs a meter and a half between it and the wall. So if you give the imam what you placed him on the level of the wall as I assume, and you said, in that case, on your suggestion or observation, because I do not consider it a suggestion, an observation in any case; in that case, you need to give the imam a meter and a half into the mihrab.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Be patient, this is necessary, and you will see. Otherwise, when he wants to move back, for example, we say: the mihrab is one meter, this second half-meter he needs to take from the floor of the followers behind him. So if this is the wall and this is the mihrab here, this is the northern wall and this is the right one, the imam must, in order to be able to prostrate and be 30 centimeters away from the sutrah as you say, must go back half a meter; because we gave every worshipper a meter and a half. This half-meter, where will he take it from? From those who pray behind him. So if you want to settle the matter here, truly, and you are an engineer, you must deepen what? The mihrab!

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : But allow me a moment, my lord. The problem is entirely not applicable, especially if you remember with me; where did you go with the minbar that cuts across the rows of worshippers?!

The questioner : This is an accident.

The Shaykh : Good; it is a mistake. If this is a mistake, then the correct answer is the solution. What is the correct answer? That when the minbar has three steps according to the Sunnah, the imam stands with the last step, and the wall is smooth, there is no mihrab at all; in that case, he does not bother the others. As for them wanting to move forward, that is not a problem; because you do not imagine that everyone will pray in rows? No, one person will go, for example, to a pillar, and another to...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : It is supposed that everyone prays...

The Shaykh : No problem, but those who move forward are taken as a sutrah...

The questioner : ... they move forward again.

The Shaykh : No problem, my lord, it is not necessary for you to imagine that those who want to pray the sunnah after or before the prayer will pray in their rows.

The questioner : Once, like the congregation.

The Shaykh : Like the congregation, no, it is not necessary to imagine this. We are the most eager people to pray with a sutrah, even if it is a person sitting or a person praying, but to impose on them that they take rows as they were praying behind the imam, this is not necessary at all. In fact, we also hold that this is contrary to the Sunnah; meaning, obliging people to adhere to rows in their prayer for the sunnah before and after the obligatory prayer is contrary to the Sunnah.