Thus the saying, “or Allah will cause your faces to diverge,” means that your viewpoints will diverge—an outward sign of hearts that have become divided. In any event, the ḥadīth is clear proof that leveling the rows is obligatory: the congregants must stand in straight lines, and if they fail to do so they expose themselves—Allah forbid—to divine punishment.

This opinion, namely that straightening the row is mandatory, is the correct one. It is therefore the duty of the imams to inspect the line; if they notice any crookedness, someone standing ahead or behind, they must point it out. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would at times walk along the rows, from one end to the other, straightening them with his noble hand. When the number of worshippers increased in the era of the caliphs, ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) appointed a man to align the rows once the call to begin had been given; when that man returned and said, “They are straight,” ʿUmar pronounced the opening takbīr. ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with him) did likewise: he too assigned someone to put the rows in order, and when told they were aligned he began the prayer. All of this shows the care the Prophet and the Rightly Guided Caliphs devoted to straightening the rows.

Regrettably, today we see many worshippers pay little heed to this: one person steps forward, another lags behind, and no one seems concerned. A man may start the first rakʿah level with his brother, but when they rush into prostration someone ends up ahead or behind, and they do not correct the line in the second rakʿah—they remain as they are. This is a mistake; the essential point is that the row must be straightened.

Should someone ask: If there is only an imam and a single follower, should the imam stand slightly ahead