Excerpt from Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amaanpuri’s book Safbandi ke Ahkām wa Masā’il
If the row is complete, it is not permissible for a follower (muqtadi) to stand next to the imam. When Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه was leading the prayer and the Prophet ﷺ came and sat to his left, the narration states:
Arabic:
فلما رآه أبو بكر استأخر.
Translation:
“When Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه saw him, he moved back.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 683, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 418)
This proves that a follower cannot stand beside the imam when the row is full. That is why Sayyidunā Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه intended to step back. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, due to excuse and necessity, signaled him to stay where he was.
Arabic:
لو قام واحد بجنب الإمام وخلفه صف يكره بالإجماع .
Translation:
“If a person stands beside the imam while there is a row behind him, it is disliked (makrūh) by consensus—according to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad al-Shaybānī.”
(al-Bināyah Sharḥ al-Hidāyah 2/342)
The narration that is cited to allow standing beside the imam when the row is full is weak.
Arabic:
قال رجل للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : علمني عملا أدخل الجنة ، قال : «كن مؤذنا، أو إماما ، أو بإزاء الإمام» .
Translation:
“A man said to the Prophet ﷺ: ‘Teach me an action that will admit me into Paradise.’
He ﷺ said: ‘Be a mu’adhdhin, or an imam, or stand equal to the imam.’”
(al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr al-Bukhārī 1/37; al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ: 7737; al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafā’ al-Rijāl 7/284; al-Ḍuʿafā’ al-Kabīr al-ʿUqaylī 4/22)
The reason:
◈ Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Dhammī is munkar al-ḥadīth.
— Declared munkar by Imām al-Bukhārī (al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr 1/37)
— Imām Ibn ʿAdī (al-Kāmil 7/284)
— Imām Ibn al-Jārūd (quoted in Ibn Ḥajar’s Lisān al-Mīzān 6/467)
◈ Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī رحمه الله said he is majhūl (unknown).
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 7/189)
Only Ibn Ḥibbān listed him among trustworthy narrators (al-Thiqāt 9/49), but this alone is insufficient against the overwhelming criticism.
Found in Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (2/537) — but the chain is weak due to Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd’s ʿanʿanah (tadlīs).
The chain contains Hushaym ibn Bashīr, who was a mudallis and did not explicitly state hearing (samaʿ).
Therefore, the chain is weak.
◈ Standing Beside the Imam When the Row Is Already Full
If the row is complete, it is not permissible for a follower (muqtadi) to stand next to the imam. When Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه was leading the prayer and the Prophet ﷺ came and sat to his left, the narration states:
Arabic:فلما رآه أبو بكر استأخر.
Translation:
“When Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه saw him, he moved back.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 683, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 418)This proves that a follower cannot stand beside the imam when the row is full. That is why Sayyidunā Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه intended to step back. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, due to excuse and necessity, signaled him to stay where he was.
◈ Statement of ʿAllāmah ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī (855 AH)
Arabic:لو قام واحد بجنب الإمام وخلفه صف يكره بالإجماع .
Translation:
“If a person stands beside the imam while there is a row behind him, it is disliked (makrūh) by consensus—according to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad al-Shaybānī.”
(al-Bināyah Sharḥ al-Hidāyah 2/342)◈ The Ḥadīth Used to Justify Standing Beside the Imam Is Weak
The narration that is cited to allow standing beside the imam when the row is full is weak.
❀ Narration Attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما
Arabic:قال رجل للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : علمني عملا أدخل الجنة ، قال : «كن مؤذنا، أو إماما ، أو بإزاء الإمام» .
Translation:
“A man said to the Prophet ﷺ: ‘Teach me an action that will admit me into Paradise.’
He ﷺ said: ‘Be a mu’adhdhin, or an imam, or stand equal to the imam.’”
(al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr al-Bukhārī 1/37; al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ: 7737; al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafā’ al-Rijāl 7/284; al-Ḍuʿafā’ al-Kabīr al-ʿUqaylī 4/22)✦ This chain is weak (ḍaʿīf)
The reason:
◈ Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Dhammī is munkar al-ḥadīth.
— Declared munkar by Imām al-Bukhārī (al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr 1/37)
— Imām Ibn ʿAdī (al-Kāmil 7/284)
— Imām Ibn al-Jārūd (quoted in Ibn Ḥajar’s Lisān al-Mīzān 6/467)
◈ Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī رحمه الله said he is majhūl (unknown).
(al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl 7/189)Only Ibn Ḥibbān listed him among trustworthy narrators (al-Thiqāt 9/49), but this alone is insufficient against the overwhelming criticism.
◈ Additional Related Statements (Weak)
1. Statement of Imām al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله
Found in Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah (2/537) — but the chain is weak due to Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd’s ʿanʿanah (tadlīs).
2. Statement of Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī رحمه الله
The chain contains Hushaym ibn Bashīr, who was a mudallis and did not explicitly state hearing (samaʿ).
Therefore, the chain is weak.
