Explaining the position of the imam when he prays with children who have reached the age of discernment
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Question:
If a father wants to perform the obligatory prayer and has two sons with him who have not reached the age of accountability, where is their place in the row? Should he place them to his right while he is their imam? Or behind him, such that the congregation is established by them? We ask you to clarify this issue. May Allah reward you.
Answer:
It is prescribed that he place them behind him if they have reached the age of seven years or more; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led Anas and an orphan in prayer and placed them behind him in the voluntary prayer when he visited Anas’s grandmother in the forenoon. However, it is not permissible for him to pray in the house; rather, it is obligatory for him to pray with the Muslims in the mosques, he and his sons; due to the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):Bulugh al-Maram 2:308 It was said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): “What is the excuse?” He said: “Fear or illness.” And because he (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by a blind man who said: “O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque, so do I have a dispensation to pray in my house?” He said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 653 He said: “Yes.” He said: And in another narration: Sunan Abi Dawud 552Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani) And it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Sunan Ibn Majah 791Sahih (Darussalam), and Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I have seen us, and none would lag behind it—meaning the prayer in congregation—except a hypocrite or a sick person.” And success is from Allah.
If a father wants to perform the obligatory prayer and has two sons with him who have not reached the age of accountability, where is their place in the row? Should he place them to his right while he is their imam? Or behind him, such that the congregation is established by them? We ask you to clarify this issue. May Allah reward you.
Answer:
It is prescribed that he place them behind him if they have reached the age of seven years or more; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) led Anas and an orphan in prayer and placed them behind him in the voluntary prayer when he visited Anas’s grandmother in the forenoon. However, it is not permissible for him to pray in the house; rather, it is obligatory for him to pray with the Muslims in the mosques, he and his sons; due to the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever hears the call for prayer and and does not come (to the mosque for prayer), his prayer will not be accepted from him, unless he has a (legitimate) excuse.
من سمع النداء فلم يأت فلا صلاة له إلا من عذرDo you hear the call to prayer?
هل تسمع النداء بالصلاةThen respond.
فأجبI do not find any permission for you.
لا أجد لك رخصةI was thinking of commanding that the call to prayer be given, then I would tell a man to lead the people in prayer, then I would go out with some other men carrying bundles of wood, and go to people who do not attend the prayer, and burn their houses down around them.
لقد هممت أن آمر بالصلاة فتقام، ثم آمر رجلًا أن يؤم الناس، ثم أنطلق برجال معهم حزم من حطب إلى قوم لا يشهدون الصلاة لأحرق عليهم بيوتهم
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.