You mentioned in *Tammam al-Mannah* in your commentary on the hadith
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The questioner: “When he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood on the minbar, his Companions would face him with their faces.” You said, our Shaykh, in *Tammam al-Mannah*: “And this is one of the abandoned sunnahs, so it is incumbent upon those who love it to revive it.” I mean, I hope you will clarify the facing of his Companions with their faces, meaning it is not the obvious meaning.
The Shaykh: Not the obvious meaning.
The questioner: I mean, I don’t know, yes, I hope for clarification.
The Shaykh: Now look, you three, without likening, are you facing me in the same manner?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: Say yes.
The questioner: In the same manner? No, no, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Okay, what is the reason? In reality, it is not in the same manner, what is the reason?
The questioner: The directions are different.
The Shaykh: I mean, you are not standing in a single row.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh: You are facing me now, but this person is ahead of you, so if he were in a row with you, his face would be toward the wall and not facing me, and he is also like that. The point is that regarding the imam who is on the minbar, the worshippers sitting in the mosque, even if we assume they are in rows, must form a semicircle or a quarter circle with their faces, such that the one in the east of the mosque and the one in the west of the mosque, both face the imam’s face, so these two persons would be like this, and then the facing of the faces continues in sequence until it forms an arc. This is what is meant by the facing mentioned in the hadith, meaning that people should not remain facing the qiblah to which they pray while sitting to listen to the preacher’s sermon, but rather they should face this preacher with their faces.
The questioner: Indeed, it is an abandoned sunnah, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Indeed, as you said, it is an abandoned sunnah.
The Shaykh: Especially since some people today, and it is regrettable that some of the youth and the Salafi youth, for example, find the qiblah to be this western wall and the eastern wall, and all of them are youth, so they face each other and do not face the preacher...
The questioner: No, no.
The Shaykh: Therefore, in my opinion, this sitting combines two violations: the first is what we are discussing, not facing the preacher with their faces; the other thing is that this leaning serves as a substitute for the crouching position (ihtiba'), which is usually a cause of drowsiness and heedlessness regarding the subject of the preacher’s sermon. Therefore, there should not be rows in the mosque from one side facing the Ka'bah and two rows facing each other, one to the west and the other to the east. This custom should be abolished, and there should not be [rows] along the walls, from the last person in the first row to the last person in the second row, and so on.
The Shaykh: Not the obvious meaning.
The questioner: I mean, I don’t know, yes, I hope for clarification.
The Shaykh: Now look, you three, without likening, are you facing me in the same manner?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: Say yes.
The questioner: In the same manner? No, no, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Okay, what is the reason? In reality, it is not in the same manner, what is the reason?
The questioner: The directions are different.
The Shaykh: I mean, you are not standing in a single row.
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh: You are facing me now, but this person is ahead of you, so if he were in a row with you, his face would be toward the wall and not facing me, and he is also like that. The point is that regarding the imam who is on the minbar, the worshippers sitting in the mosque, even if we assume they are in rows, must form a semicircle or a quarter circle with their faces, such that the one in the east of the mosque and the one in the west of the mosque, both face the imam’s face, so these two persons would be like this, and then the facing of the faces continues in sequence until it forms an arc. This is what is meant by the facing mentioned in the hadith, meaning that people should not remain facing the qiblah to which they pray while sitting to listen to the preacher’s sermon, but rather they should face this preacher with their faces.
The questioner: Indeed, it is an abandoned sunnah, my Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Indeed, as you said, it is an abandoned sunnah.
The Shaykh: Especially since some people today, and it is regrettable that some of the youth and the Salafi youth, for example, find the qiblah to be this western wall and the eastern wall, and all of them are youth, so they face each other and do not face the preacher...
The questioner: No, no.
The Shaykh: Therefore, in my opinion, this sitting combines two violations: the first is what we are discussing, not facing the preacher with their faces; the other thing is that this leaning serves as a substitute for the crouching position (ihtiba'), which is usually a cause of drowsiness and heedlessness regarding the subject of the preacher’s sermon. Therefore, there should not be rows in the mosque from one side facing the Ka'bah and two rows facing each other, one to the west and the other to the east. This custom should be abolished, and there should not be [rows] along the walls, from the last person in the first row to the last person in the second row, and so on.
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