The preferred arrangement of the rows from the imam’s two sides
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Honorable Shaykh! Sometimes the right side of the row in prayer is longer than the left side, so the imam adjusts the row. What is your opinion on this?
My opinion is that this is correct. Sometimes the ma’mum (those praying behind the imam) line up on the right side of the row and it becomes long, and you find thirty men on the right and five or six on the left. This is not appropriate. He may adjust it; this is because the right is better than the left when there is equality or closeness, such as one or two men, for example. But with a great disparity, it is not. Evidence for this is that in the beginning, when there were three, one would be on the right and one on the left, in the beginning. Then this was abrogated, and the three would have their imam leading them. This indicates that the right is not better in every case.And if it were better in every case, we would say: If there are three, both men are to the right of the imam.
Also, the hadiths encouraging closeness to the imam support this. Therefore, there is no blame on the imam for alerting the people,And he says: if the right row is long, saying: “Come to the left.”This is if we say: As for the hadith: “Center the imam”, it is weak, as is well known among the people of hadith. However, if it were authentic, the matter would be clear that the imam should be centered.
My opinion is that this is correct. Sometimes the ma’mum (those praying behind the imam) line up on the right side of the row and it becomes long, and you find thirty men on the right and five or six on the left. This is not appropriate. He may adjust it; this is because the right is better than the left when there is equality or closeness, such as one or two men, for example. But with a great disparity, it is not. Evidence for this is that in the beginning, when there were three, one would be on the right and one on the left, in the beginning. Then this was abrogated, and the three would have their imam leading them. This indicates that the right is not better in every case.And if it were better in every case, we would say: If there are three, both men are to the right of the imam.
Also, the hadiths encouraging closeness to the imam support this. Therefore, there is no blame on the imam for alerting the people,And he says: if the right row is long, saying: “Come to the left.”This is if we say: As for the hadith: “Center the imam”, it is weak, as is well known among the people of hadith. However, if it were authentic, the matter would be clear that the imam should be centered.