✨Arranging the Rows in salah

Unifying the voice of Muslims and harmonizing their hearts is one of the aims of the wise Shariah. And many of the sharia ordainments were built upon this. So whomsoever thinks that the worships of prayer, fasting and Hajj are free from these aims is among the most ignorant of the Shariah and its rulings.

The obligatory prayer is a means of harmonizing the hearts and unifying the voices of Muslims, because it was ordained to be performed in congregation. So the one who prays meets his brothers five times each day and night. This is one of the wisdoms behind the congregational prayer and those not performing it or irregular in it miss out on its goodness. So woe to them from The One who ordained and obligated it and mandated a punishment for those leaving it.

And from among the most amazing matters ordained in the congregational prayer is straightening the rows and bridging the gaps. The Prophet ﷺ was strict about this and the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, followed his way and emphasized it.

Jabir bin Samurah (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out to us (once) and said, Will you not form rows as the angels form rows before their Lord? We asked: “O Messenger of Allah! how do the angels form rows before their Lord?” He ﷺ replied, ” They complete the first rows and fill the gaps in the rows.” [Muslim 430a]

The command to establish prayer mandates having humility and focus. And forming the rows, filling them, straightening them and leaving no gaps is a means of establishing focus and humility in prayer.

For it expels the devil who looks for gaps in the rows to steal from the prayers of the worshippers. He whispers to them and takes their minds away from turning to Allah Almighty to the valleys of this worldly life until the prayer finishes and the worshipper was not conscious of their prayer. To the extent that the Imam errs in the number of units of prayer. And there may be a row or several rows behind him and none of the worshippers alert him of his mistake. And from what indicates that properly forming the rows expels the devil is the hadith narrated by Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Stand close together in your rows, keep near to one another, and put your necks in line. For by the One in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad! I can see the satan entering through the gaps in the rows like the hadhaf (a type of small sheep found in Yemen). [Sunan an-Nasa’i 815, Grade: Sahih]

And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that Allah and the angels send blessings upon those who properly form the prayer rows. Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Allah and His angels send blessings upon those who complete the rows, and whoever fills a gap, Allah will raise him one degree in status thereby. [Sunan Ibn Majah 995, Grade:Hassan]

In properly forming the rows, the Prophet ﷺ did not suffice with speech and command. He also did so through action and warning that not doing so will cause the hearts to differ. Know that one of the reasons for what occurs among Muslims in terms of hatred, rivalry, and disagreement of the hearts, is not taking care in properly forming the rows. For the Prophet did not speak from his own inclination and informed us of the effects that forming the rows has upon the hearts.

Nu’man bin Bashir (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to straighten our rows (in Salat), as if he was straightening an arrow with their help until he saw that we had learnt it from him. One day he came out, stood up (for Salat) and was about to say: Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest), (marking the beginning of the prayer) when he saw a man, whose chest was bulging out from the row. He said, Servants of Allah, you must straighten your rows or Allah will turn your faces away from one another (cause dissension amongst you). [Bukhari 717, Muslim 436b].

Al-Nawawi said in explaining this hadith that enmity, hatred, and differences of hearts will occur between you, as it is said, the face of so-and-so changed regarding me, that is, it appeared to me from his face that he hates me, and his heart has changed towards me. Because the discrepancy of their rows is a discrepancy in their outward appearances, and the discrepancy of their outward appearances is a cause for internal conflicts.

And crookedness is a form of discrepancy in the rows, because the Prophet ﷺprohibited them from discrepancies in the row when he saw a man’s chest in front of the others. Just as discrepancies in rows is due to gaps in the rows that allow satan to weave through. As discrepancies in rows is also due to discontinuities in the row. So proper forming of the rows includes removing any crookedness from the row, bringing the worshippers closer together until there are no gaps, joining a discontinuous row and not starting a new row until the row before it is complete.

If there is a gap in a row and a man tries to fill it, it is obligatory upon the person to the left and right to relax their arms and shoulders so that he can enter and close the gap. As Ibn ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Arrange the rows in order, stand shoulder to shoulder, close the gaps, be accommodating to your brothers, and do not leave gaps for Satan. [Abu Dawud 666, Grade: Sahih]

Abu Dawud said the meaning of be accommodating to your brothers is that if a man tries to enter the row the people on either side should relax their shoulders until the person is able to enter the row.

And in the Hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas, he said that the Prophet said:
The best among you are the ones with the most accommodating shoulders in prayer. [Abu Dawood 672, Grade:Sahih]

And many people are denied this goodness because they believe that since they came early it is not right for someone who came late to enter next to them, even though they is a large gap between him and the person next to him. He wants space and does not want to cramped.

And people in this regard are either moderate or of two extremes. There are those who want to insert themselves in the row even though there is no space. He wants to get the virtue of praying in the first row, even though he harms others through this behavior and transgresses against the rights of those who came earlier to the Masjed. And there are those who leave space between them and the person next to them, which results in a discrepancy in the row and leaves a gap for the satan. And the correct in this regard is that a worshipper should not infringe upon the rights of others in the row and not harm them by forcefully entering the row. And if he sees a gap, he fills it or relaxes his arms and shoulders for the one who wants to fill a gap.