A person came to the mosque to pray the obligatory prayer, then found the row full. Does he pray alone, or what does he do?
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The questioner : A person came to the mosque to pray an obligatory prayer, then found the row full. Does he pray alone, or what does he do?
The Shaykh : If a person comes to the mosque and finds that the rows are full, he prays alone in a row, but he is with the congregation.
There is no blame on him for that, because Allah the Exalted says:[At-Taghabun 64:16].
This man cannot enter the rows now because they are full, and congregational prayer is obligatory as part of the fear of Allah, so he must pray with the congregation even if he is alone behind the rows, because he cannot enter the row due to the rows being full.
If you say: This contradicts the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Bulugh al-Maram 2:327. The answer is: The scholars differed on the meaning of this hadith. Some said: There is no complete prayer for one who prays alone behind the row, and this negation is like the negation in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Ibn Hibban 10:361.
If a man prays in the presence of food, his prayer is valid, but the negation here is a negation of completeness, meaning: There is no complete prayer for one who prays alone behind the row.
The three Imams—Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Abu Hanifa—held this view, and it is a narration from Imam Ahmad that the negation here is a negation of completeness, not a negation of validity.
But the correct view is that it is a negation of validity.
The scholars established a principle: The default for a negation is that it is a negation of existence. If it cannot be understood as a negation of existence, it is understood as a negation of validity. If it cannot be understood as a negation of validity, it is understood as a negation of completeness.
Now, this hadith:Bulugh al-Maram 2:327 This is supported by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man praying alone behind the row and ordered him to repeat the prayer.
So the stronger view is: This hadith indicates the negation of the validity of the prayer of one who prays alone behind the row.
And the necessary consequence of that is that it is obligatory for a person to stand in the row.
But if a person is unable to do so, what happens? It is dropped, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:, and His saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:286].
If this man comes and the rows are full, he is not free from one of four matters:
Either he leaves and prays alone, or he pulls one person from the row to pray with him, or he moves forward to the imam to pray with him, or he prays alone behind the row. So the possibilities are four, or he waits for someone to arrive, that is the fifth. Good.
Moving forward to the imam has two dangers. The first danger is that he disturbs the worshippers by passing over their shoulders if there are rows.
If it is possible for him to come from the front door toward the qibla to stand with the imam, that is a contradiction of the Sunnah by isolating the imam in his place.
For the Sunnah is that the imam is isolated in his place if there are two or more worshippers behind him.
This is one point that shows it is not prescribed.
Or he pulls one person to pray with him, and if he pulls one person to pray with him, there are also dangers. First: He moves this man from the superior place to the inferior place, and this involves some transgression against him.
Second: He disturbs the man's prayer.
Third: He opens a gap in the row.
Fourth: It leads to movement of everyone in this row, because the custom is that if a gap opens in the row, some of them move closer to each other.
So this possibility is dropped, meaning it is not prescribed.
What remains for us?
That he leaves and prays alone, and by this he misses the congregation in place and actions, and he is deprived of the congregation in place and actions.
Or he waits for someone to come, and this may result in someone entering the mosque and praying with him, or it may not happen, so it is not certain. Or he joins them and is isolated in place without actions, and catching up with the congregation in actions without place is better than not catching up with the congregation in either place or actions.
For this reason, this middle view was the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), that if a place in the row is impossible, he stands alone and prays with the congregation, and there is no blame on him for that.
And he (may Allah have mercy on him) argued with a very strange evidence from the chapter of analogical reasoning, where he said: "A woman lines up alone behind the row and her prayer is valid, because she has no place in the row by Shari'ah, and this man who found the row full has no place in the row—by Shari'ah or by reality? By reality. So the impossibility by reality is like the impossibility by Shari'ah", so he (may Allah have mercy on him) attributed his saying to the Shari'ah evidence and the rational evidence, which is analogical reasoning.
The Shaykh : If a person comes to the mosque and finds that the rows are full, he prays alone in a row, but he is with the congregation.
There is no blame on him for that, because Allah the Exalted says:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فاتقوا الله ما استطعتمThis man cannot enter the rows now because they are full, and congregational prayer is obligatory as part of the fear of Allah, so he must pray with the congregation even if he is alone behind the rows, because he cannot enter the row due to the rows being full.
If you say: This contradicts the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The prayer of a person who prays alone behind the row is not accepted.
لا صلاة لمنفرد خلف الصفThere is no prayer in the presence of food, nor when the two worst things are pushing him
لا صلاة في حضرة الطعام، ولا هو يدافعه الأخبثانIf a man prays in the presence of food, his prayer is valid, but the negation here is a negation of completeness, meaning: There is no complete prayer for one who prays alone behind the row.
The three Imams—Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Abu Hanifa—held this view, and it is a narration from Imam Ahmad that the negation here is a negation of completeness, not a negation of validity.
But the correct view is that it is a negation of validity.
The scholars established a principle: The default for a negation is that it is a negation of existence. If it cannot be understood as a negation of existence, it is understood as a negation of validity. If it cannot be understood as a negation of validity, it is understood as a negation of completeness.
Now, this hadith:
The prayer of a person who prays alone behind the row is not accepted.
لا صلاة لمنفرد خلف الصفSo the stronger view is: This hadith indicates the negation of the validity of the prayer of one who prays alone behind the row.
And the necessary consequence of that is that it is obligatory for a person to stand in the row.
But if a person is unable to do so, what happens? It is dropped, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
So fear Allah as much as you are able
فاتقوا الله مااستطعتمAllah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
لايكلف الله نفسا إلا وسعهاIf this man comes and the rows are full, he is not free from one of four matters:
Either he leaves and prays alone, or he pulls one person from the row to pray with him, or he moves forward to the imam to pray with him, or he prays alone behind the row. So the possibilities are four, or he waits for someone to arrive, that is the fifth. Good.
Moving forward to the imam has two dangers. The first danger is that he disturbs the worshippers by passing over their shoulders if there are rows.
If it is possible for him to come from the front door toward the qibla to stand with the imam, that is a contradiction of the Sunnah by isolating the imam in his place.
For the Sunnah is that the imam is isolated in his place if there are two or more worshippers behind him.
This is one point that shows it is not prescribed.
Or he pulls one person to pray with him, and if he pulls one person to pray with him, there are also dangers. First: He moves this man from the superior place to the inferior place, and this involves some transgression against him.
Second: He disturbs the man's prayer.
Third: He opens a gap in the row.
Fourth: It leads to movement of everyone in this row, because the custom is that if a gap opens in the row, some of them move closer to each other.
So this possibility is dropped, meaning it is not prescribed.
What remains for us?
That he leaves and prays alone, and by this he misses the congregation in place and actions, and he is deprived of the congregation in place and actions.
Or he waits for someone to come, and this may result in someone entering the mosque and praying with him, or it may not happen, so it is not certain. Or he joins them and is isolated in place without actions, and catching up with the congregation in actions without place is better than not catching up with the congregation in either place or actions.
For this reason, this middle view was the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), that if a place in the row is impossible, he stands alone and prays with the congregation, and there is no blame on him for that.
And he (may Allah have mercy on him) argued with a very strange evidence from the chapter of analogical reasoning, where he said: "A woman lines up alone behind the row and her prayer is valid, because she has no place in the row by Shari'ah, and this man who found the row full has no place in the row—by Shari'ah or by reality? By reality. So the impossibility by reality is like the impossibility by Shari'ah", so he (may Allah have mercy on him) attributed his saying to the Shari'ah evidence and the rational evidence, which is analogical reasoning.