invalid. A muslim should attend the mosque and fill in the rows that are in the front then those after ... etc’. (1)

[2/ 33] The second: Leaving space and gaps in the rows due to the belief that aligning rows could be achieved by only getting shoulders close together forgetting all about the feet!! ’Anas ( - رضي الله عنه -) related that the prophet ( - صلى الله عليه وسلم -) said: ‘Straighten your rows for I could see you from behind my back’.

’Anas ( - رضي الله عنه -) then said: ‘Accordingly, We used to make our shoulders and feet in close contact; each with the one next to him’. (2)

In another narration, ’Anas ( - رضي الله عنه -) added: ‘If one applies this Sunnah, nowadays, people would fly away from him like an undomesticated mule’. (3) This was the very thing ’Anas ( - رضي الله عنه -) condemned of the people at Mad?nah as Bushair Ibn Yas?r Al-Ans?ri reported. (4) Accordingly; the Sunnah -which the prophet ( - صلى الله عليه وسلم -) and his Sah?bah earnestly practiced- is to make the shoulder and feet in contact with the one next to you. Unfortunately, most people have abandoned this Sunnah as if it was a Bid‘ah. We seek refuge with All?h ( - عز وجل -) from this. May All?h ( - عز وجل -) guide people to that which pleases him and make them taste the sweetness of following Sunnah. (5)

Commenting on ’Anas’s criticism for people for abandoning this Sunnah, Ibn Hajar said: ‘Anas’s statement clearly states that the ... aforementioned act [i.e. straightening rows] used to be practiced