Should the Imam Stand in the Center During Salah?

Should the Imam Stand in the Center?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri

❖ Question:​

Is it necessary for the imām to stand in the center when leading the congregation?

❖ Answer:​

✔ It is recommended (mustaḥabb) for the imām to stand in the center of the row ahead of the congregation.

❖ Evidence:​

❀ Narrated by​

"ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها led us in prayer, and she stood in the middle of the row during the obligatory prayer."
Sunan al-Dāraqutnī: 1507
Chain status: Authentic (ṣaḥīḥ)
→ Ḥāfiẓ Nawawī رحمه الله graded the chain as ṣaḥīḥ
Khalāṣat al-Aḥkām, 2/680

❖ Ruling Based on Gender:​

• If a woman is leading other women in prayer, she should stand in the middle of the row.
• If a man is leading the congregation, he should stand in front of the row and in the center.

❖ Clarification on a Weak Report:​

In Sunan Abī Dāwūd (681), there is a narration attributed to the Prophet ﷺ:


"Place the imām in the center (وسطوا الإمام)."


However, the chain is weak:

• The narrator Yaḥyā ibn Bashīr ibn Khallād is unknown (mastūr).

❀ Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī رحمه الله writes:​

Ibn al-Qaṭṭān said: "The condition of this narrator and his father is unknown."
(Correction: It is his mother, not his father.)
ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq said: "This isnād is not strong."


Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, 4/367


Additionally, the narrator’s mother, Ummat al-Wāḥid bint Yāmīn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, is also unknown.

Summary:​

✔ It is sunnah and preferred for the imām to stand in the center of the row in front of the congregation.
✔ For women leading women, the imām stands within the row, in the middle.
✖ The ḥadīth that explicitly commands, “Place the imām in the center” is weak, but the practice is established through authentic reports and the consensus of scholars.


ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
This is what I understand, and Allah knows best what is correct.