What is the ruling on drawing lines in mosques to straighten the rows?

The Shaykh : As for the line, and I ask Allah to keep you away from that line and to preserve you upon the line that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) drew , these lines that have begun to spread in the mosques of the Muslims in recent years resemble your unified adhan in that it is contrary to the Shari'ah. This is because the unified adhan nullifies one of the legislations of Islam, which is that every mosque must raise its voice with "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah." This legislation and this Islamic practice has been nullified. The line is likewise, because it nullifies the imam's command to straighten the rows and nullifies teaching people how to straighten the rows if they are afflicted with praying in a place where there is no physical line. There must be a conceptual line in their ears, and this conceptual line does not settle in their minds except by following the Sunnah of the imam and those who follow him, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not establish the prayer until he ordered the straightening of the rows and said: to the end of the authentic hadiths from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He turned away from all these things, from stretching this string! And so you find that when people go out for the Eid prayer in the open prayer ground, you meet some sticking out and some missing, some jutting out, to use the Syrian expression, some jutting out. Why? Because they are not accustomed to straightening the rows in the mosque. If they had practiced it, it would be very easy for them to straighten the rows in the open, in the desert, in the prayer ground. So the line in the mosques, or the lines in the mosques, this must be a misguiding innovation by the consensus of the scholars, not only among those who say according to the saying of the Messenger: . This is because there are two opinions among the scholars; some say according to the saying of the Messenger, and without doubt these are the truly happy ones, and some say that innovation is divided into five categories to which the five rulings apply. Even among these, stretching lines in the mosque must be a misguiding innovation. Why? Because those who thought that innovation accepts this fivefold division, because the Messenger did not do that. And here is a very long discussion related to the unlegislated interests (masalih mursalah) that were the cause for their existence in the time of the Messenger or not. Then if the cause existed due to the negligence of the Muslims, it has the ruling of illegitimacy, otherwise it is permissible to adopt it. Remember the lecture that was delivered. So this line, stretching a line in the Prophet's Mosque, was not done by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but he relied on teaching people to straighten the rows, because they might go out as travelers for Hajj and 'Umrah in the open. When the prayer is present, how do they straighten? Do they stretch a string? Meaning, they do not pray on a string, nor do they shave except on the string.

The questioner : Shaykh, a word for Professor Ahmad al-Salik.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : What we have known is only stones...!

The Shaykh : Also... Subhanak Allahumma wa bihamdika.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : I bear witness that there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You!