Thus, if he is outside the mosque, two conditions are required:

The first condition is hearing the takbīr.

The second condition is seeing the imam or the followers—either throughout the entire prayer, according to the apparent meaning of the author’s words, or during part of the prayer, according to the established school.

The apparent meaning of his words is that continuity of the rows is not a condition when the follower is outside the mosque; this is the established school’s view.

The second view—the one followed by the author of al-Muqniʿ—is that the rows must be continuous, and that the following of one who is outside the mosque is not valid unless the rows are continuous. This is because what is required of the congregation is that they be united both in their actions—namely, the follower’s following of the imam—and in location. Otherwise, we would say that it is valid for there to be an imam and one follower in the mosque, two followers in a room separated from the mosque by a distance, another two followers in another room separated from the mosque by a distance, and yet another two followers in a third room separated from the mosque by a distance. There is no doubt that this disperses the congregation, especially according to those who hold that congregational prayer must be performed in the mosques.

The correct view in this matter is that, for one who is outside the mosque to follow the imam, the rows must be continuous. If they are not continuous, the prayer is invalid.

An example of this is the buildings around the Sacred Mosque, containing apartments in which people pray while seeing the imam or the followers, either throughout the entire prayer or during part of it. According to the author’s view, the prayer would be valid,