What is the ruling on the prayer of a congregant who stands to the right of the Imam due to lack of space in the row?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
It is for the Imam to stand in front of the congregants (two or more). No one should stand beside him unless there is an extreme necessity. If there are two congregants and they need to stand beside the Imam, one stands to his right and the other to his left. They should not both stand to his right. What the general public now believes—that if two men need to be with the Imam, they should both stand only to his right—has no basis, unless there is only one congregant, in which case he stands only to the Imam's right.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/14136
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 14136
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy