Standing Level With the Imam in the Salah When Only Two People are Praying
By
Shaykh Muhammad Nasiruddeen al-Albaani
Translated by
Abbas Abu Yahya
From Ibn Abbas who said:
‘I came to the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, whilst he was praying at the last part of the night so I prayed behind him. He took me by my hand and pulled me so that I was level with him, but when the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam faced towards his prayer, I moved back a little, the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam prayed and when he finished and moved away he said to me:
ما شأني (وفي رواية: ما لك) أجعلك حذائي فتخنس ؟!
‘What is the situation? (In another narration: ‘what’s up?) I place you level with me and you retreat?’
I said: O Messenger of Allaah, is it befitting for a person to pray level with you, whilst you are the Messenger of Allaah whom Allaah has given [this status].’
Ibn Abbas said: He liked this.
So the Messenger made Dua for me, for increase in knowledge and understanding.’
In an extra wording from Ahmad:
‘Ibn Abbas said, then I saw the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam had slept, so much that I heard him breathing heavily, then Bilal came to him and said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, the prayer.’ The Messenger stood and prayed and did not perform a new Wudu.’
[Collected by al-Hakim who said it was authentic upon the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim, and adh-Dhahabi agreed with him, and Al-Albaani said it is as they said it is.]
Shaykh Muhammad Nasiruddeen Al-Albaani -Rahimahullaah- (d. 1420 A.H.) said:
‘In this hadeeth there is an important Fiqh benefit, which may not be present in many of the books of Fiqh, in fact in some of those books there is that which opposes this, which is:
The Sunnah when only two people are praying together, that a person is led in the prayer on the right hand side of the Imam standing equal next to him, not standing in front of the Imam nor slightly behind him, in contrast to what is mentioned in some of the schools of thought that it is necessary for a person to stand slightly behind the Imam [and not equal next to him], whereby his toes are equal with the heels of the Imam or similar to this.
This is as you see, opposes this authentic Hadeeth.
Some of the Salaf practised [standing equal with the Imam].
Imam Malik narrated in his book ‘al-Muwatta’ from Nafa’ that he said:
‘I stood behind Abdullaah bin Umar in a prayer from the prayers, and there was no one else with him other than me. Abdullaah placed his hand behind him and pulled me level with him.’
It is also narrated from Ubaydullaah bin Abdullaah bin Utbah that he said:
‘I visited Umar bin al-Khattab during a very hot time period in an open area and found him praying. I stood behind him to pray, and he pulled me forward until he made sure that I was level with him on his right hand side.
Then when the gatekeeper came I moved back and we made rows behind him.’
[Silsilah as-Saheehah no. 2590 & also researched under no. 606]
السنة أن يقتدي المصلي مع الإمام عن يمينه محاذياً له
2590 –
ابن عباس قال: ” أتيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم [وهو يصلي من آخر الليل] فصليت خلفه، فأخذ بيدي فجرني فجعلني حذاءه،
فلما أقبل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على صلاته خنست، فصلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، فلما انصرف قال لي:
” ما شأني (وفي رواية: ما لك) أجعلك حذائي فتخنس؟! “.
فقلت: يا رسول الله! أو ينبغي
لأحد أن يصلي حذاءك، وأنت رسول الله الذي أعطاك الله، قال: فأعجبته، فدعا
الله لي أن يزيدني علما وفهما، زاد أحمد: ” قال: ثم رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نام حتى سمعته ينفخ، ثم أتاه بلال فقال: يا رسول الله! الصلاة. فقام فصلى ما أعاد وضوءا “.
وقال الحاكم: ” صحيح على شرط الشيخين ” ووافقه الذهبي، وهو كما قالا
وفيه فائدة فقهية هامة، قد لا توجد في كثير من الكتب الفقهية، بل في بعضها ما يخالفها، وهي: أن السنة أن يقتدي المصلي مع الإمام عن يمينه وحذاءه، غير متقدم عليه، ولا متأخر عنه، خلافا لما في بعض المذاهب أنه ينبغي أن يتأخر عن الإمام قليلا بحيث يجعل أصابع رجله حذاء عقبي الإمام، أو نحوه، وهذا كما ترى خلاف هذا الحديث الصحيح،
وبه عمل بعض السلف، فقد روى الإمام مالك في ” موطئه ” (1 / 154) عن نافع أنه قال: ” قمت وراء عبد الله بن عمر في صلاة من الصلوات وليس معه أحد غيري، فخالف عبد الله بيده، فجعلني حذاءه “. ثم روى (1 / 169 – 170) عن عبيد الله بن عبد الله بن عتبة أنه قال: دخلت على عمر بن الخطاب بالهاجرة، فوجدته يسبح ، فقمت وراءه، فقربني حتى جعلني حذاءه عن يمينه، فلما جاء (يرفأ) تأخرت
فصففنا وراءه.
كتاب سلسلة الأحاديث الصحيحة وشيء من فقهها وفوائدها