What is the ruling on prayer if the follower prays to the left of the imam?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner: Replaying the image... .
The Shaykh: The image shows the imam and you as the follower. You are supposed to stand to my right, but you stood to my left.
The questioner: ... the prayer.
The Shaykh: The prayer is valid, but it is contrary to the Sunnah. Both are contrary to the Sunnah: the follower who stood on the left made a mistake, and the imam should have pulled him to the right, as the Messenger (peace be upon him) did.
The Shaykh: It is not permissible for the second and third [followers] either. The prayer is disliked with a prohibitive dislike, just as wearing trousers is, even outside of prayer.
The questioner: Yes, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The Shaykh: The image shows the imam and you as the follower. You are supposed to stand to my right, but you stood to my left.
The questioner: ... the prayer.
The Shaykh: The prayer is valid, but it is contrary to the Sunnah. Both are contrary to the Sunnah: the follower who stood on the left made a mistake, and the imam should have pulled him to the right, as the Messenger (peace be upon him) did.
The Shaykh: It is not permissible for the second and third [followers] either. The prayer is disliked with a prohibitive dislike, just as wearing trousers is, even outside of prayer.
The questioner: Yes, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.