Introduction
Straightening the rows in congregational prayer is a Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. The noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) not only acted upon it but also physically demonstrated it by joining shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot. Some consider this contact as a one-time occurrence or exaggeration, but authentic Ahadith and the explanations of Muhaddithin prove it is a part of the Sunnah to remove gaps in rows.
This article will present the evidence-based reality using statements from the Companions, the Tabiʿīn, and the Imams, and clarify the prevailing misunderstanding on the issue.
Narrations of Sayyiduna Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه
The clearest narration about joining foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder in the rows comes from Sayyiduna Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه, recorded by Imām al-Bukhārī and Imām Abū Dāwūd with authentic chains.
① Narration in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله established a chapter:
بَابُ إِلْزَاقِ المَنْكِبِ بِالمَنْكِبِ وَالقَدَمِ بِالقَدَمِ فِي الصَّفِّ
“Chapter: Joining shoulder to shoulder and foot to foot in the row.”
Sayyiduna Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه said:
«رَأَيْتُ الرَّجُلَ مِنَّا يُلْزِقُ كَعْبَهُ بِكَعْبِ صَاحِبِهِ»
“I saw a person among us placing his ankle with the ankle of his companion.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Adhān, Ḥadīth: 725]
② Narration in Sunan Abī Dāwūd
In Bāb Taswiyat al-Ṣufūf, Imām Abū Dāwūd رحمه الله narrates with a full chain:
حدثنا عثمان بن ابي شيبة، حدثنا وكيع، عن زكريا بن ابي زائدة، عن ابي القاسم الجدلي، قال: سمعت النعمان بن بشير، يقول: اقبل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على الناس بوجهه، فقال:” اقيموا صفوفكم ثلاثا، والله لتقيمن صفوفكم او ليخالفن الله بين قلوبكم”، قال: فرايت الرجل يلزق منكبه بمنكب صاحبه وركبته بركبة صاحبه وكعبه بكعبه.
Abū al-Qāsim al-Jadalī said: I heard Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنهما say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned his face towards the people and said:
“Straighten your rows!”
He repeated this three times and said:
“By Allah, you must straighten your rows or Allah will cause discord between your hearts.”
Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه said:
“I saw a man join his shoulder with the shoulder of his companion, his knee with his companion’s knee, and his ankle with his ankle.”
📚 [Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Ḥadīth: 662 | Graded Ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī]
Authentication of the Chain
- Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī (أبو داود السجستاني), kunyah: Abū Dāwūd – thiqah, ḥāfiẓ, Imām of the Sunan.
- ʿUthmān bin Abī Shaybah al-ʿAbsī (عثمان بن أبي شيبة العبسي), kunyah: Abū al-Ḥasan – thiqah, ḥāfiẓ, muḥaddith.
- Wakīʿ bin al-Jarrāḥ al-Ruʾāsī (وكيع بن الجراح الرؤاسي), kunyah: Abū Sufyān – thiqah, ḥāfiẓ, Imām.
- Zakarīyā bin Abī Zāʾidah al-Wādiʿī (زكريا بن أبي زائدة الوادعي), kunyah: Abū Yaḥyā – thiqah, but a mudallis; in this narration his explicit statement of hearing (samāʿ) is present, as this same narration comes in Sunan al-Dāraquṭnī with his explicit statement of hearing.
- Al-Ḥusayn bin al-Ḥārith al-Jadalī (الحسين بن الحارث الجدلي), kunyah: Abū al-Qāsim – ṣadūq, ḥasan al-ḥadīth.
- Al-Nuʿmān bin Bashīr al-Anṣārī (النعمان بن بشير الأنصاري) – eminent Companion, died 65 AH.
This chain is authentic and all its narrators are trustworthy.
③ Statements of the Scholars of Ḥadīth
◈ Imām al-Qurṭubī رحمه الله
In al-Jāmiʿ li Aḥkām al-Qur’ān, he quotes this narration and explains:
In the Sunnah is this saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, which Abū Dāwūd narrated from Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه: “By Allah, straighten your rows, or else Allah will put discord between your hearts.”
Then Nuʿmān رضي الله عنه says: “I saw a man joining his shoulder to the shoulder of his companion, his knee to the knee of his companion, and his ankle to the ankle of his companion.”
Here “العَقِب” means the rear part beneath the heel, and “العُرقوب” is the name for the joint between the shin and the foot.
📚 [al-Jāmiʿ li Aḥkām al-Qur’ān, Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī]
◈ Imām al-Nawawī رحمه الله
In Khulāṣat al-Aḥkām, in the chapter “The command to straighten the rows,” he mentions this same narration and says:
In it is the statement that Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه saw a man joining his shoulder to his companion’s shoulder, his knee to the knee, and his ankle to the ankle.
📚 [Khulāṣat al-Aḥkām fī Muhimmāt al-Sunan, al-Nawawī]
◈ ʿAllāmah Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī رحمه الله
In Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb, he mentions:
Both of these narrations indicate that establishing the row includes being level and the body parts being joined to one another.
📚 [Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb fī Sharḥ al-Taqrīb, Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī]
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī رحمه الله
In Fatḥ al-Bārī, explaining this chapter of Imām al-Bukhārī رحمه الله, he writes:
What is meant here is full effort (mubālaghah) in straightening the row, and the command to remove gaps in the row, and encouragement to do so, have come in several aḥādīth.
He defines the Arabic word “مبالغة“ (exaggeration) as:
«إذا اجتهد في الأمر» — i.e., to strive fully in doing something.
Hence, it is not the same as the Urdu meaning of “exaggeration,” but indicates perfect execution of the Sunnah.
📚 [Fatḥ al-Bārī, Lisān al-ʿArab]
From these narrations and the explicit statements of the muḥaddithīn it is entirely clear that the statement of Sayyiduna Nuʿmān bin Bashīr رضي الله عنه is not a temporary or exaggerated remark, but the correct and complete Sunnah method of straightening the row.
Narrations of Sayyiduna Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه
The practical example of joining foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder in the row is also found in the narration of Sayyiduna Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه, which Imām al-Bukhārī, Ibn Abī Shaybah and other muḥaddithīn have reported with authentic chains.
① Narration in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī
Same chapter:
بَابُ إِلْزَاقِ المَنْكِبِ بِالمَنْكِبِ وَالقَدَمِ بِالقَدَمِ فِي الصَّفِّ
In this chapter is the narration of Sayyiduna Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه:
725 – حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ خَالِدٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرٌ، عَنْ حُمَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«أَقِيمُوا صُفُوفَكُمْ، فَإِنِّي أَرَاكُمْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ ظَهْرِي»
وَكَانَ أَحَدُنَا يُلْزِقُ مَنْكِبَهُ بِمَنْكِبِ صَاحِبِهِ، وَقَدَمَهُ بِقَدَمِهِ.
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Straighten your rows, for I see you from behind my back.”
“And every one of us would place his shoulder with the shoulder of his companion and his foot with his foot.”
📚 [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ḥadīth: 725]
② Narration in Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (with additional wording)
3524 – حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمُ بْنُ بَشِيرٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا حُمَيْدٌ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، قَالَ:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: «اعْتَدِلُوا فِي صُفُوفِكُمْ، فَإِنِّي أَرَاكُمْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ ظَهْرِي»
قَالَ أَنَسٌ: «لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَنَا يُلْزِقُ مَنْكِبَهُ بِمَنْكِبِ صَاحِبِهِ، وَقَدَمَهُ بِقَدَمِهِ، وَلَوْ ذَهَبْتَ تَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ لَتَرَى أَحَدَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ بَغْلٌ شَمُوسٌ»
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Be straight in your rows, for I see you from behind my back.” Anas رضي الله عنه said: “Every one of us would join his shoulder to the shoulder of his companion and his foot to the foot of his companion, but if you go to do that today, some people bolt like a stubborn mule.”
📚 [Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: numbering of Saʿd al-Shathrī 3562, numbering of Muḥammad ʿAwwāmah 3544, its chain is ṣaḥīḥ]
Authentication of the Chain:
- Ibn Abī Shaybah al-ʿAbsī (ابن أبي شيبة العبسي), kunyah: Abū Bakr – thiqah, ḥāfiẓ, author of works.
- Hushaym bin Bashīr al-Sulamī (هشيم بن بشير السلمي), kunyah: Abū Muʿāwiyah – thiqah thabt.
- Ḥumayd bin Abī Ḥumayd al-Ṭawīl (حميد بن أبي حميد الطويل), kunyah: Abū ʿUbaydah – thiqah.
- Anas bin Mālik al-Anṣārī (انس بن مالك الأنصاري) – eminent Companion, died 93 AH.
③ Narration by Ibn Abī al-Fawāris and Validation by Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī
87 – حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، ثَنَا أَبُو خَيْثَمَةَ زُهَيْرُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، وَشُجَاعُ بْنُ مَخْلَدٍ، وَالْحَسَنُ بْنُ عَرَفَةَ، قَالُوا: ثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، أَنْبَأَ حُمَيْدٌ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: «اعْتَدِلُوا فِي صُفُوفِكُمْ وَتَرَاصُّوا، فَإِنِّي أَرَاكُمْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ ظَهْرِي»
قَالَ أَنَسٌ: «فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَنَا يُلْصِقُ مَنْكِبَهُ بِمَنْكِبِ صَاحِبِهِ وَقَدَمَهُ بِقَدَمِهِ، فَلَوْ ذَهَبْتَ تَفْعَلُ هَذَا الْيَوْمَ لَنَفَرَ أَحَدُكُمْ كَأَنَّهُ بَغْلٌ شَمُوسٌ»
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Be straight in your rows and close up together, for I see you from behind my back.” Anas رضي الله عنه said: “I have indeed seen one of us join his shoulder to the shoulder of his companion and his foot to his foot; if you went to do this today, one of you would bolt as if he were a stubborn mule.”
Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله said:
«هَذَا حَدِيثٌ صَحِيْحٌ، غَرِيْبٌ»
“This ḥadīth is ṣaḥīḥ and gharīb.”
📚 [Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, al-Dhahabī]
From all these narrations of Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه it is known that:
- The joining of shoulders and feet was not merely a one-time act but a constant practice.
- Later, when people abandoned care and the complete straightening of the row, the Companions رضي الله عنهم disliked this change and likened it to the uncontrolled movement of animals.
- The muḥaddithīn have declared these narrations authentic and a proof.
Statements of Other Companions
This Sunnah was not limited to Anas and Nuʿmān رضي الله عنهما. Other senior Companions also practiced and taught it.
① Sayyiduna ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنه
Sayyiduna ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said:
9376 – حَدَّثَنَا يُوسُفُ الْقَاضِي، ثنا عَمْرُو بْنُ مَرْزُوقٍ، أنا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ سَلَمَةَ بْنِ كُهَيْلٍ، عَنْ أَبِي الْأَحْوَصِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ، قَالَ:
«سَوُّوا صُفُوفَكُمْ، فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَتَخَلَّلُهَا كَالْخَذْفِ – أَوْ كَأَوْلَادِ الْخَذْفِ -»
“Straighten your rows, for the Shayṭān slips into them like a small goat, or the young of a goat.”
Its chain is ṣaḥīḥ.
Authentication of the Narrators:
- Yūsuf bin Yaʿqūb al-Qāḍī (يوسف بن يعقوب القاضي), kunyah: Abū Muḥammad – thiqah.
- ʿAmr bin Marzūq al-Bāhilī (عمرو بن مرزوق الباهلي), kunyah: Abū ʿUthmān – thiqah.
- Shuʿbah bin al-Ḥajjāj al-ʿAtakī (شعبة بن الحجاج العتكي), kunyah: Abū Bisṭām – thiqah, ḥāfiẓ, mutqin, devout worshipper.
- Salamah bin Kuhayl al-Ḥaḍramī (سلمة بن كهيل الحضرمي), kunyah: Abū Yaḥyā – thiqah.
- Sallām bin Sulaym al-Ḥanafī (سلام بن سليم الحنفي), kunyah: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ – thiqah, mutqin.
- ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd (عبد الله بن مسعود) – eminent Companion, died 32 AH.
This statement strongly stresses closing the gaps in the row so that no passage remains for the Shayṭān, and this very purpose is achieved by joining the shoulders and feet.
② Sayyiduna Bilāl al-Ḥabashī رضي الله عنه
Suwayd bin Ghaflah رحمه الله narrates:
1211 – وَقَالَ مُسَدَّدٌ: ثَنَا يَحْيَى، عَنْ سُفْيَانَ، حَدَّثَنِي عمار، عن عمران، عَنْ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ غَفْلَةَ قَالَ:
«كَانَ بِلَالٌ يُسَوِّي مَنَاكِبَنَا وَيَضْرِبُ أَقْدَامَنَا لِإِقَامَةِ الصَّفِّ»
“Bilāl رضي الله عنه used to level our shoulders and strike our feet to establish the row.”
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله confirmed it, saying:
«صَحَّ عَنْ سُوَيْدِ بْنِ غَفْلَةَ قَالَ: كَانَ بِلَالٌ يُسَوِّي مَنَاكِبَنَا وَيَضْرِبُ أَقْدَامَنَا فِي الصَّلَاةِ»
“It is authentically reported from Suwayd bin Ghaflah that he said: Bilāl used to level our shoulders and strike our feet in the prayer.”
📚 [Fatḥ al-Bārī, Ibn Ḥajar]
📌 Note: The striking of the feet was to make the worshippers join their feet, not just stand straight — otherwise shoulder alignment alone would have sufficed.
Conclusion and Summary
From the study of all the foregoing evidences, aḥādīth and reports, it has been established very clearly and convincingly that joining foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder in the row is not merely a one-time incident or an exaggeration, but is part of the teachings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and of the practical method of the noble Companions رضي الله عنهم.
🔹 Established Facts
- The Prophet ﷺ’s Command:
- He ﷺ commanded the straightening of the rows on several occasions and warned that, if it was not acted upon, discord would arise in the hearts.
- The practical form of this command became clear from the practice of the Companions رضي الله عنهم, who formed the row by joining shoulders and feet.
- Practice of the Companions:
- The authentic narrations of Nuʿmān bin Bashīr and Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنهما show that they stood with shoulders, knees and ankles levelled together.
- No Companion objected to this; rather, it was adopted as the true form of straightening the row.
- Reports of Other Companions:
- ʿAbdullāh bin Masʿūd رضي الله عنه declared the gap in the row to be a path for the Shayṭān to enter and stressed closing it.
- Bilāl al-Ḥabashī رضي الله عنه would correct the worshippers directly in practice, straightening their shoulders and also straightening (and joining) their feet.
- Explicit Statements of the Muḥaddithīn:
- Imām al-Qurṭubī, Imām al-Nawawī, Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī and Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمهم الله regarded, on the basis of these narrations, the physical joining in the row as fulfilling the Sunnah at its most complete level.
- Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar explained the Arabic meaning of “مبالغة“: here it means complete care and effort, not the Urdu sense of excess or an unreal statement.
🔹 Final Verdict
- The Sunnah method of straightening the row is that the worshippers stand close to one another, join their shoulders and feet, and leave no gap in between, so that no passage remains for the Shayṭān.
- Joining foot to foot and shoulder to shoulder is not a temporary or optional act, but the continuous practical Sunnah of the noble Companions رضي الله عنهم, which the muḥaddithīn have stated with full force and declared authentic.
- Excluding this practice from the Sunnah by calling it “exaggeration” (مبالغة) is a misunderstanding and a wrong interpretation of the linguistic meaning.
✦ Muslims must revive this Sunnah in congregational prayer, for it not only adheres to the Prophetic method but also strengthens Islamic unity and brotherhood.
وَاللهُ أعلَمُ بالصَّواب
Screenshots of Important References
