What is the ruling if a person finds a small child in the first row and removes him from the row to take his place? Is that permissible or not? And is it better for children to pray in the back or what?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : What is the ruling if a person finds a small child in the first row and removes the child to take his place? Is that permissible or not? And is it better for children to pray in the back or what? May you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : If the child is of discernment and has taken a place in the first row or elsewhere, it is not permissible for anyone to remove him from the row, because that is a transgression against him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade a man from displacing his brother from his place and sitting in it, unless the child has a state of play or something similar. In that case, one should speak with his guardian and advise him not to bring the child, because he annoys the worshippers and disturbs them. If his guardian prevents him, that is the expected course. If he does not prevent him, then the one in charge of the mosque should prevent this child. However, if the child is well-mannered and does not cause harm, he is like any other worshipper; he has the right to the place where he sits, for the reason of the hadith we mentioned, and because removing the child from his place creates a knot in his heart of aversion to the mosque and attending it, and aversion to the specific person who displaced him. All of this is something that should not happen. As for pushing the children into a single row behind the adults, this leads to the worshippers being harmed by them even more, because if they are gathered in one row, they will talk and play, and the worshippers will be annoyed by them. This does not contradict what I just mentioned regarding the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan an-Nasa'i 812Sahih (Darussalam)
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : If the child is of discernment and has taken a place in the first row or elsewhere, it is not permissible for anyone to remove him from the row, because that is a transgression against him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade a man from displacing his brother from his place and sitting in it, unless the child has a state of play or something similar. In that case, one should speak with his guardian and advise him not to bring the child, because he annoys the worshippers and disturbs them. If his guardian prevents him, that is the expected course. If he does not prevent him, then the one in charge of the mosque should prevent this child. However, if the child is well-mannered and does not cause harm, he is like any other worshipper; he has the right to the place where he sits, for the reason of the hadith we mentioned, and because removing the child from his place creates a knot in his heart of aversion to the mosque and attending it, and aversion to the specific person who displaced him. All of this is something that should not happen. As for pushing the children into a single row behind the adults, this leads to the worshippers being harmed by them even more, because if they are gathered in one row, they will talk and play, and the worshippers will be annoyed by them. This does not contradict what I just mentioned regarding the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Let those who are mature and wise stand closest to me
ليليني منكم أولو الأحلام والنهىLet those of you who are of sound mind and understanding come near me.
ليلني منكم أول الأحلام والنهىThe questioner : May Allah reward you with good.