—who had left on his foot an area the size of a fingernail that the water had not touched—to repeat it.

These instances establish that ritual purity, forming rows in prayer, and performing its pillars are all required.

Among those who held a view contrary to the hadith concerning one who prays alone behind the row—such as Abū Hanīfa, Mālik, and al-Shāfi‘i—some had not received the hadith, or it was not established in their judgment. Al-Shāfi‘i considered it countered by the fact that the imam prays alone, by the fact that Mulayka, the grandmother of Anas, prayed behind them, and by the hadith of Abū Bakra, who bowed before joining the row.

Ahmad’s principle regarding hadiths that appear to conflict in two similar but nonidentical cases is to apply each hadith to its proper case and not set one against the other. Concerning a woman in this situation, he says: If she is with women, she prays among them; but if she is with men, she can only pray behind them, even if she is alone, because she is forbidden to stand in a row with men. Her standing apart from the men is more appropriate than standing in their row. Likewise, when she leads women in prayer, she stands among them because that affords her greater concealment, just as an imam leading unclothed people stands among them—even though the Sunnah for a clothed man leading prayer is to stand in front of the row.

We further say that the imam is not analogous to the follower: the Sunnah for the imam is to stand forward, not in the row, whereas the Sunnah for those following him is to form rows. Nevertheless, the fact that the imam and the woman each stand separately shows that a male follower may stand alone when necessary—namely, when no place is available to him in which to pray unless he stands alone. This follows by analogy from the position of Ahmad and others; and because