—“There is no objection to the imam standing higher than the congregation on the basis of this ḥadīth.”

This, however, is a truly bewildering line of argument from those scholars; my astonishment at it hardly ends. How can they treat the report as proof of an unrestricted allowance when the Prophet ﷺ himself limited it to the purpose of instruction? It is no different from someone using the same narration to claim it is lawful, without qualification, to climb onto and step down from the pulpit during the prayer with no intent to teach. Could any rational person affirm that? Glory be to the One who has reserved infallibility for the prophets alone.

For that reason Ibn Ḥajar wrote in Fatḥ al-Bārī:

“Contained in the report is a concession for the imam and the congregation to pray at different levels, higher or lower. The author has stated this explicitly, quoting it from his teacher ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī on the authority of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd, however, examined the matter, saying: ‘Whoever attempts to infer from it the permissibility of elevation without the intent of instruction is mistaken, for the wording does not encompass that. The original act is distinguished by a qualifying feature whose relevance demands that it be retained; therefore it cannot be set aside.’”

May Allah have mercy on Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd: he was precise in his reasoning, fair in his enquiry, and undeterred by the blame of any critic for Allah’s sake.

Tenth issue: the space between the columns in which those following the prayer line up. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Maḥmūd reported—this ḥadīth is graded sound-good (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ):

“We prayed behind one of the governors, and the people forced us into the tight space, so we prayed between the columns. (Anas ibn Mālik kept stepping back.) When we finished the prayer, Anas said, ‘During the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, we used to avoid doing this.’”

This report was recorded by Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Tirmidhī, al-Ḥākim, and Aḥmad through the chain of Sufyān al-Thawrī from