of necessity, and there is no harm in his standing beside the imam.

If we say that he should not stand to the imam’s right, then what should he do?

The answer is that he should pray alone behind the row, and his prayer is valid according to the stronger view.

“If he is unable to do so, he may alert someone to stand with him, …”

His statement, “If he is unable to do so, he may alert someone to stand with him,” means: if he is unable to move forward to the imam and pray beside him—for example, if the imam is in a narrow space such as the qiblah niche, that is, the mihrab, where no more than one person can stand in a row—then he cannot stand to the imam’s right.

“He may,” meaning that this man may alert someone to stand with him, saying, “So-and-so, step back—may Allah reward you with good—so that you may pray with me.” However, it is disliked for him to pull the person back without first alerting him.

Is the person who has been alerted obliged to step back with this man?

They said: He is obliged to step back with him in order to make his companion’s prayer valid. Thus, there are two issues here:

The first concerns the person who has entered the prayer.

The second concerns those praying in the row.

As for the person entering the prayer, we say: Alert someone to pray with you, and the one who is alerted should step back.

As for those praying in the row, we say to the one who has been alerted: You must step back in order to complete your companion’s prayer.