The first harmful consequence is that the boy may come to dislike the mosque, for—even though he is a boy—he should not be treated lightly; things leave an impression upon his heart.

The second harmful consequence is that he may come to dislike the man who moved him back from the row.

In summary, this view is weak—namely, the view that boys should be moved back from their places. As for his saying, peace and blessings be upon him, “Let those among you who are mature and discerning stand nearest to me” (1), what he meant—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—was to encourage mature, rational adults to come forward, not to move children back from their places.

His statement, “and straightening the row,” employs the definite article in a generic sense, encompassing all rows. For this reason, some jurists phrase it as “straightening the rows.” Here, “row” is a generic noun that includes all the rows: the first, the second, the third, and so on.

Question: If the right side of a row has more people than its left side, should the imam ask the congregation to make the right side equal to the left?

Answer: If the difference is evident, there is no harm in asking them to make the right side equal to the left, in order to clarify the sunnah. Many people today think that the right side is preferable without qualification, to the extent that a row is sometimes completed from the right, while there may be only one or two people on the left. It states in al-Furūʿ: “It may be argued that being far from the imam on his right is not preferable to being close to him on his left; perhaps this is what they intended.” (2) End quote.

Question: The Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him, “When he performs ablution and performs it well, he does not take a step except that he is raised one degree thereby …” the hadith (3): if he leaves