contains a blanket prohibition of prayer.’ In my view, however, it is not unconditional; rather, it is limited to congregational prayer, just like the report of Muʿāwiyah ibn Qurrah. The proof is the Prophet’s statement, ‘Do not pray between the pillars; complete the rows.’ To me, that phrase serves as an explanation of the earlier prohibition—and Allah knows best. If this reading is correct, and if the ḥadīth of Anas is sound with this additional wording, then it points to the rationale behind the ban: it breaks the rows. For that very reason the same ḥadīth commands that the rows be completed—and Allah knows best.

Imām Aḥmad spelled this out explicitly. Abū Dāwūd records in his Masāʾil: ‘I heard Aḥmad being asked about praying between the pillars. He said, “It was only disliked because it cuts the row; but if there is sufficient space between the pillars, then I hope it is allowed.”’

Therefore I say: anyone who intends to build a mosque or a congregational masjid should instruct the architect to draw a plan with as few columns as possible, so as to reduce the harm that results from their presence—namely, breaking the rows and narrowing the space for worshippers. Nowadays it is entirely feasible to erect a mosque with no columns at all by using cement and steel (reinforced concrete), provided the building is not excessively wide. In Damascus several mosques have already been constructed on this model, such as the Lala Pasha Mosque on Baghdad Street, the Murābiṭ Mosque in al-Muhājirīn, and others. In them all the rows are continuous, except for the front rows, which are regrettably interrupted by the widespread innovation now found in almost every mosque: the tall, elevated pulpit with its many steps. Besides being an innovation that departs from the Prophet’s practice—his pulpit had only three steps—it is overloaded with ornamentation, carvings, extravagance, and waste