If a person who catches up with the congregation late sees that the last rank (saff) is full, can he stand behind that rank alone?

Dear Brother / Sister,

If a person who arrives after the front ranks become full properly cannot find any empty place in the ranks, he waits for somebody else before starting the prayer. However, if he fears that he will miss the rak’ah, he draws somebody from the last rank who knows about prayer issues and who will not be disturbed and stand with him at the back of the last rank. However, if that person does not understand it and is likely to break his prayer, he can stand alone. 

SAFF

Saff means a line and a line of thins aligned in the same row. It is one of the rows (ranks) that believers who perform a prayer behind an imam in congregation form parallel to the qiblah. If there is only one person to follow the imam, he stands next to the imam, not in front of or behind the imam According to Zahirur-Riwaya. However, according to Imam Muhammad, he stands a bit behind the imam on the right so that his toes will be aligned with the heels of the imam. It is makruh to stand on the left or right behind the imam.

What matters is not the place of prostration but the place where the feet stand. It is permissible for a person to prostrate ahead of the imam because of being very tall. If there are two or more people, they form a rank behind the imam.  The first person stands right behind the imam, the second one on the right of him, the third one on the right of the first person, the fourth one on the right of the second person, and the fifth on the left of the third person. The imam needs to be in the middle all the time. If there is one more person on the right, the next person will stand on the left. It is appropriate if the imam stands in the middle and the whole congregation on his right or on his left.

If a person stands on the right of the imam and then another person comes, the second person stands right behind the imam and draws the person on the right of the imam back, next to him. It is makruh to stand next to the imam when there is a rank behind. Men form a rank behind the imam first; children form a rank after men, then hermaphrodites if any and then, women.

Hz. Prophet (pbuh) said, "Straighten the ranks; arrange your shoulders to be in alignment; fill the gaps; touch your brothers slightly with your hands when you enter a rank; do not leave any places for Satan. Allah will lead the people who stand very close to one another in the ranks to goodness. Allah will not lead the people who leave gaps in the ranks to goodness." (Muslim, Salat, 104; Abu Dawud, Salat, 93; Nasai, Sahw, 4; Ahmad b. Hanbal, III, 154-260). The imam needs to warn the congregation related to those issues. If there is an empty place in the first rank and if the second rank has been filled, a person who arrives after that passes through the second rank and enters the first rank. He does not have to show them respect since they have not filled the first rank. If a person who arrives after the front ranks become full properly cannot find any empty place in the ranks, he waits for somebody else before starting the prayer. However, if he fears that he will miss the rak’ah, he draws somebody from the last rank who knows about prayer issues and who will not be disturbed and stand with him at the back of the last rank.

The most virtuous rank for men is the first rank. Then, comes the rank that is nearer to the first one and then the next one. The most virtuous rank for women is the last rank. The Messenger of Allah said, "Allah definitely sends mercy on the imam. After the imam, it moves on to the believers on the right and then those on the right; then, it moves to the second rank. In another hadith, he said, "There are one hundred thawabs to the person who performs the prayer right behind the imam, seventy-five thawabs to the one on the right and twenty-five thawabs to the people in the other ranks."

However, it is better to leave the place behind the imam to scholars. If there is more than one janazah, they are arranged in the same order and the janazah prayers are performed. If the dead bodies are to be buried in the same place, the men are placed on the qiblah side; then, the others are placed in order. Soil or sand is placed between them. This is applied when there is a necessity. If there is no necessity, it is more virtuous to bury them in separate graves. (Hashiyatut-Tahtawi, 166-168; Fathul-Qadir I, 307-308)

Ahmet ARPA

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