for Abū Bakrah did not pray alone behind the row, so he was not told to repeat the prayer, whereas the man mentioned in the two ḥadiths did pray behind the row by himself and was therefore instructed to repeat it. Hence, there is no contradiction. Imām Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—combined the reports in this manner. Abū Dāwūd relates in his Masāʾil (p. 35): “I heard Aḥmad being asked about a man who bowed before reaching the row, then walked forward until he joined it, but the imam had already risen before he arrived. He replied, ‘That rakʿah counts for him. However, if he prayed behind the row by himself, he must repeat the prayer.’”
His statement under point 5: “On the authority of al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to straighten our rows … and said, “Straighten your rows or Allah will cause your faces to differ.”’ Reported by the Five and declared authentic by al-Tirmidhī.”
I say: In Abū Dāwūd’s version there is an additional wording the author ought to have cited, for it highlights a sunnah most worshippers have long neglected. Al-Nuʿmān added after the ḥadith: “I saw a man place his shoulder against his companion’s shoulder, his knee against his companion’s knee, and his ankle against his companion’s ankle.” The isnād is sound; al-Bukhārī cited it in hanging form in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and he transmitted something similar from Anas.
He further says: “Al-Bazzār, with a hasan chain, narrated from Ibn ʿUmar: ‘No step is more meritorious than a step a man takes to fill a gap in the row.’”
I reply: This statement contains three errors:
- The ḥadith is marfūʿ—traced back to the Prophet—whereas he treated it as mauqūf, stopping at the Companion.
- He attributed it to al-Bazzār, yet no one but al-Ṭabarānī reported it.
- He graded its isnād “good,” but it is in fact weak.