“You must certainly straighten your rows, or Allah will cause your faces to differ,” (1) and then remain unconcerned about straightening the row. There is also a hadith widely circulated among people, but it has no basis: “Allah does not look at the crooked row.”
- Part of straightening and perfecting the rows is to keep them close together, and close to the imam, for they are a congregation, and a congregation is derived from gathering. There can be no complete gathering while people are far apart. Thus, the closer the rows are to one another and to the imam, the better and more becoming it is. In some mosques, we see a space between the imam and the first row large enough for one or two rows; that is, the imam stands far too far forward. In my view, this stems from ignorance. The sunnah is for the imam to be close to those praying behind him, for those praying behind him to be close to the imam, and for each row to be close to the next.
The limit of closeness is that there should be enough space between them for prostration, with a little extra room.
Question: Does the second row count as a first row in relation to the third row, such that it is included in the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “If people knew the reward in the call to prayer and the first row, and could find no way to attain it except by drawing lots, they would draw lots for it”? (2) Or does it not?
The apparent view is that it does not, because the first row entails taking the initiative and arriving early, unlike the second row. Going early to the mosque is something encouraged.