Standing in the Second Row While There Is Room in the First

Question

[A man] came to the prayer at a time when there was an empty place for one person in the first row, and he stood in the second row. When he was asked the reason, he replied: “I stood in the second row because in this second row there was only one person, and one person should not stand in a row [alone]; for this reason I stood with him in the second row.” In short: there is an empty place for one person in the first row, and one person is standing in the second row — what should the latecomer do in such a case?

Answer

The mistake is the first person's: while room remained in the first row, he stood in the second row. Then, when the second person stood beside him with the intention of removing the karaha of his standing alone, this intention of his is not wrong. However, this is not the kind of issue over which one should dispute: everyone's prayer is valid.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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