[Q 187] The command to join shoulders in congregational prayer

Question

If performing Salah in jamaat, and the shoulders aren’t joined with the person on either side during standing, so there’s a gap, is the person’s Salah valid?

What if they are joined shoulders with a person from only one side, but not the other side where theres gap, is Salah valid?

Or would Salah need to be repeated in these cases?

Should shoulders be joined when a person returns from ruku to standing, before going sajda?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب بعون الملك الوهاب اللهم هداية الحق والصواب

Answer

One of the Wajibat of the rows is also the wajib تراص (taras), that is, the worshipers should stand close to each other in such a way that the shoulder of one should meet the shoulder of the other, and there should be no gap between them. so if a person in the rows, he does not stand in this way and keeps a distance, he is guilty of an unlawful and sinful act, but his Salah will be performed correctly, and it will not be Makrooh or wajib-ul-iaadah, because standing together is not one of the obligations of the salah, but the obligations of the congregation(Jamat). It is from the one whose abandonment is a sin, but there is no effect in the actual salah.

Answered by: Arif Raza Madani (Ask Mufti Scholar)

Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari

Translated by: Saqib Madani