that has been usurped, scholars hold two opinions. This is the basis for the view of those who disapprove of praying in enclosures where the general public is prevented from praying. What is prescribed in the mosque is for people to complete the first row, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Will you not form rows as the angels form rows before their Lord?” They asked, “How do the angels form rows before their Lord?” He replied, “They complete each row, beginning with the first, and stand close together in the row.”

In the two Sahīh collections, he is reported to have said:

“If people knew the reward for giving the call to prayer and standing in the first row, and could find no way to obtain these except by drawing lots, they would draw lots. And if they knew the reward for going early, they would race to do so.”

What a person is instructed to do is to go early to the mosque himself. If he sends his mat ahead but delays his own arrival, he has contravened the Sharia in two respects: by arriving late when he is instructed to come early, and by wrongfully appropriating part of the mosque, preventing those who arrive before him from praying there and completing the rows in order, beginning with the first. Moreover, he steps over the people after they have gathered. A hadith states:

“Whoever steps over people’s necks will be made a bridge to Hell.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to a man:

“Sit down, for you have caused harm.”

Now, if someone lays down such a mat, may a person who reaches the mosque before him remove it and pray in its place? There are two opinions: