Ibn Majah

Benefits and Issues:
➊ The best row refers to that row in which the reward is the greatest. And the most inferior row refers to that row in which the reward is the least. However, reward is present in that as well.

➋ The wisdom behind the last rows of women being superior is that they are farther from mixing with men. For this very reason, a woman’s prayer in her home is superior to her prayer in the mosque.

821. Commentary: For men, the first row is the best in every respect because the first row is superior and also farther from the women. "Best" here means the one with the greatest reward. The last row of men, in terms of reward and rank, is lesser in reward, and if it is closer to the women, then an additional deficiency arises, because the proximity of men and women leads to distraction from prayer and causes temptation (fitnah). The first row of women being the worst and the last row being the best is in the case when they are standing behind the men. If they are separate from the men, then this distinction does not apply. In general, the most virtuous prayer for a woman is in her home. However, if Allah ta‘ala makes a woman's prayer in the mosque in congregation better or equal to her prayer at home, then this is not impossible, but in light of the apparent text, we will say that a woman's prayer is best in her home, except in the case where, in addition to congregational prayer, there is also an arrangement for educational and training gatherings in the mosque. In that case, it is possible that the woman coming for this purpose attains superiority. And Allah knows best.

English Commentary:
1:
By "the first row" is meant the row that is directly connected to the imam. The meaning of "the best row is the first row" is that, compared to the other rows, there is more goodness and virtue in it, because those who are in the row closest to the imam benefit directly from the imam,
they listen to the recitation of the Qur’an and the takbirs,
and, being far from the women, they are protected from the whisperings and evil thoughts that disturb the prayer,
and the meaning of "the last row is the worst row" is that there is less goodness and virtue in it compared to the other rows;
it does not mean that those who are in it are evil.

2:
The last row of the women is better because it is farther from the men, and thus the women participating in this row are protected from the whisperings of Satan and from temptations.

3:
This ruling applies in the case when the rows of men and women are arranged one behind the other;
if the women are praying separately from the men, then their first row will be the best.

678. Commentary:
For men, it is desirable to go outside the home for prayers and other affairs of life; therefore, for them, securing a place in the first row and spending as much time as possible in the mosque is a cause of reward and virtue. And whoever comes later, his rank keeps decreasing accordingly. However, for women, it is more virtuous and superior that they remain in their homes. Nevertheless, it is permissible for them to come to the mosque for prayer, so the woman who leaves her house exactly at the prayer time and spends the least amount of time outside her home—and thus finds a place in the last rows—is superior to the woman who comes earlier, secures a place in the first row, and spends more time outside her home. Furthermore, the last row of men is closer to the women, and the first row of women is closer to the men. For this reason, these two rows have been considered of lesser rank, whereas the first row of men and the last row of women are farther from each other, and there is no fear of distraction or disturbance there; thus, their reward is greater. Nowadays, with the proper arrangements of partitions and separate sections for men and women during prayer, the possibility of such distraction is also greatly reduced.

Benefit:
In this hadith, the best row for women is described as the last row, and the best row for men is described as the first row. From this, it is also understood that women may perform congregational prayer in the mosque; the rows of men will be behind the imam, and then behind the men, the women will form their rows.