Must the feet of those praying in congregation be completely touching, or is there a specific distance between them, taking into account the saying "Do not leave a gap for Satan" and what is said about a 10-centimeter distance, and the Imam's instruction "Straighten your shoulders and feet"?
The Sunnah in congregational prayer is to straighten the rows, meaning that foot should be aligned with foot and shoulder with shoulder, and to stand close together in the row. There are proofs for this, among them: the Hadith of Nu'man ibn Bashir: "You must straighten your rows, or Allah will cause discord among your faces," and the Hadith of Anas ibn Malik: "Straighten your rows, for I see you from behind my back." Al-Bukhari added: "And one of us would press his shoulder against the shoulder of his companion and his foot against his foot." Also, there is a prohibition against leaving gaps for Satan, as in the Hadith of Anas: "Close your ranks, and draw close to one another, and align your necks. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, I see the devils entering through the gaps in the row as if they were young lambs." Based on this, leaving about ten centimeters between worshipers is a statement contrary to these authentic Ahadith.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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