Source: Extracted from Hudiyyat al-Muslimīn – Namāz ke Aham Masāʾil maʿ Maqmal Namāz al-Nabawiyyah ﷺ by Shaykh Zubair ʿAlī Zai رحمه الله
From ʿAlī bin Shaybān (رضي الله عنه):
"We came to the Prophet ﷺ, pledged allegiance to him, and prayed behind him. Then we prayed another prayer behind him. When the Prophet ﷺ finished, he saw a man praying alone behind the row. The Prophet ﷺ stood over him, and when the man finished his prayer, the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Repeat your prayer, for there is no prayer for one who prays alone behind the row.’"
[Sunan Ibn Mājah: p. 70, Ḥadīth 1003; al-Būṣayrī said: its chain is ṣaḥīḥ, its narrators are trustworthy]
① This ḥadīth proves that a person praying alone behind the row has no valid prayer.
② In the narration of Wābiṣah bin Maʿbad (رضي الله عنه), the Prophet ﷺ ordered a man to repeat his prayer if he prayed alone behind the row.
[Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1/106, Ḥadīth 682; authenticated by Ibn Ḥibbān (2198–2201), Ibn al-Jārūd (Ḥadīth 319), Isḥāq, and others; al-Tirmidhī (Ḥadīth 230) graded it ḥasan; al-Baghawī (Ḥadīth 824)]
③ The ḥadīth of Abū Bakrah (رضي الله عنه) cannot be used as evidence in this matter, because Abū Bakrah did not remain alone behind the row until the end — he walked and joined the row.
④ If someone pulls a person from the front row (based on analogy with the rule of two — imām and follower) to join him, it is permissible, provided it is done from the far end of the row so as not to cut the row.
⑤ In Ḥanafī Uṣūl al-Bazdawī, it is written that Wābiṣah bin Maʿbad (رضي الله عنه) and certain other Companions are majhūl (unknown). This is an extremely false statement, as all Companions are just (‘udūl), and none of them is majhūl.
رضي الله عنهم أجمعين
Ḥadīth Evidence
From ʿAlī bin Shaybān (رضي الله عنه):
"We came to the Prophet ﷺ, pledged allegiance to him, and prayed behind him. Then we prayed another prayer behind him. When the Prophet ﷺ finished, he saw a man praying alone behind the row. The Prophet ﷺ stood over him, and when the man finished his prayer, the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Repeat your prayer, for there is no prayer for one who prays alone behind the row.’"
[Sunan Ibn Mājah: p. 70, Ḥadīth 1003; al-Būṣayrī said: its chain is ṣaḥīḥ, its narrators are trustworthy]
- This ḥadīth has been authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah (3/30, Ḥadīth 1569) and Ibn Ḥibbān (Mawārid, Ḥadīth 401).
Benefits and Rulings
① This ḥadīth proves that a person praying alone behind the row has no valid prayer.
② In the narration of Wābiṣah bin Maʿbad (رضي الله عنه), the Prophet ﷺ ordered a man to repeat his prayer if he prayed alone behind the row.
[Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1/106, Ḥadīth 682; authenticated by Ibn Ḥibbān (2198–2201), Ibn al-Jārūd (Ḥadīth 319), Isḥāq, and others; al-Tirmidhī (Ḥadīth 230) graded it ḥasan; al-Baghawī (Ḥadīth 824)]
③ The ḥadīth of Abū Bakrah (رضي الله عنه) cannot be used as evidence in this matter, because Abū Bakrah did not remain alone behind the row until the end — he walked and joined the row.
- Likewise, using his ḥadīth to prove catching the rukūʿ is also incorrect. [See Juzʾ al-Qirāʾah by al-Bukhārī, Ḥadīth 136]
④ If someone pulls a person from the front row (based on analogy with the rule of two — imām and follower) to join him, it is permissible, provided it is done from the far end of the row so as not to cut the row.
- Some scholars prefer pulling from the middle so as to act upon “make the imām in the center”.
- The narration in Sunan Abī Dāwūd (Ḥadīth 681) about this is weak due to the unknown status of Ummata al-Wāḥid (mother of Yaḥyā bin Bashīr) and Yaḥyā bin Bashīr himself.
⑤ In Ḥanafī Uṣūl al-Bazdawī, it is written that Wābiṣah bin Maʿbad (رضي الله عنه) and certain other Companions are majhūl (unknown). This is an extremely false statement, as all Companions are just (‘udūl), and none of them is majhūl.
رضي الله عنهم أجمعين
