❖ Row Formation for Children in Congregational Prayer
Source: Fatawa Ameenpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
❖ Question:
If children participate in congregational (jamāʿah) prayer, where should they stand in the rows?
❖ Answer:
In congregational prayer, the first rows should be occupied by adult men, followed by a separate row for boys (non-adult children), and behind them should be the rows of women.
❖ Prophetic Practice Explained by a Companion:
❀ Sayyidunā Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī رضي الله عنه once led the prayer and said:
"ألا أصلي لكم صلاة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، فصف الرجال، ثم صف الولدان خلف الرجال، ثم صف النساء خلف الولدان."
"Shall I not lead you in the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Then (during the prayer) the men formed rows, behind them the boys, and behind them the women."
(Musnad Aḥmad: 5/343; Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 677 — Chain is ḥasan as graded by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulqin in Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj: 548)
❖ Exceptions for Mature and Mindful Children:
If a non-adult child is:
- sensible,
- conscious of purity and cleanliness, and
- maintains the proper etiquette of row alignment,
then he may stand in the row of adult men.
If someone moves him to the back, there is no harm in that either.
❖ Practice of the Salaf:
❀ Yazīd ibn Ṣuhaib al-Faqīr رحمه الله reported:
"كان زر، وأبو وائل، إذا رأونا فى الصف ونحن صبيان أخرجونا."
"When Zar ibn Ḥubaysh and Abū Wāʾil رحمهم الله saw us standing in the row as children, they would remove us to the back."
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 4167 — Chain is ḥasan)
✔ Summary:
① Adult men should occupy the front rows.
② Children (non-adults) should form rows behind the men.
③ Women’s rows should be behind the children's rows.
④ A sensible, well-behaved child may stand in the men’s row — this is permissible, but not obligatory.
⑤ Early scholars (Salaf) sometimes moved children back if found standing among men.
