First: Allah the Exalted says: “So fear Allah as much as you are able.” [al-Taghabun 64:16] And He says: “Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity.” [al-Baqarah 2:286] This man, who could not find a place in the row, was unable to do anything more than that.

Second: if we say, “Do not stand in a row by yourself,” one of the following consequences necessarily follows:

Either he abandons the congregational prayer and prays by himself, thus missing the congregational prayer;

or he moves forward to stand beside the imam, whereas we have already mentioned that this is not from the sunnah (1);

or he pulls someone back to stand with him, and we have said that this too is not permissible (2).

Thus, nothing remains for him but to stand by himself in the row. For his being alone only with respect to his place is preferable to his being alone with respect to both his place and his following of the imam. We have previously mentioned that most scholars deemed the prayer of one who stands alone behind the row valid, whether there is an excuse or not. Therefore, the view that validates the prayer of one standing alone behind the row when there is an excuse is a middle position between two views: one saying that there is no problem with it at all, and the other maintaining that the prayer is invalid even when there is an excuse (3).

If you reflect on the scholars’ views, you will generally find that the middle position is the correct one, because it takes into account the evidence of both sides and reconciles the proofs.

Consider, for example, matters of creed: people have divided regarding Allah’s attributes into two extremes and a middle position: