Is My Prayer Invalid When a Foot of the Imam Is behind Mine?
Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi
Question
When praying congregation as 2 people (1 Imam and 1 follower), we stand side by side, but I stand a little behind the Imam. Even with this precaution, people when they are about to go in sujood take a step backwards which leads to me (the follower) potentially being ahead of the Imam.
This has happened many times. Is this excused because it’s unintentional, and I can’t control what the Imam does? If not, what’s the solution?
Answer
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
I pray this finds you in the best of states.
Your prayer has been invalidated if you are sure that one of the heels of the feet of the Imam went behind one of yours.
If you are in doubt regarding this matter, you have to assume the validity of your prayer.
If the heel of one of your feet, at any point in the prayer, is in front of one of the heels of the Imam, then the prayer of the follower is invalid. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
The reason for this ruling is that not being in front of the Imam is from the conditions for the validity of the follower. [Shurunbulali, Nur al-Idah]
The location of the heels of the Imam and the follower assesses this. [Tahtawi, Hashiya ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]
One of the proofs of these rulings is that when Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) prayed next to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), he placed Ibn Abbas next to him, on his right. [Bukhari]
The wording used by Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) was: “He placed me on his right.” This wording is explicit in establishing that the follower should not be in front or behind the Imam, but has to be exactly parallel to him when praying in a congregation of two people. [Ibn al-Humam, Fath al-Qadir]
Praying in front of the Imam in this situation will invalidate the prayer. Praying behind the Imam won’t invalidate the prayer but will make the follower fail to perform his prayer in the most pleasing way to Allah (Most High). [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
Advice
I would advise you to lead the prayer when you are in this situation in order to avoid any mistakes. If it is difficult to lead the person you are with, simply pray with him as a follower. And, if your prayer has been broken because of the heel position, simply repeat it.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Ustadh Sufyan Qufi is an advanced seeker of knowledge, originally from Algeria, who grew up in France. He began searching far and wide for answers to the fundamental questions of life and was disappointed at the answers he found. Then he connected with various traditional teachers and gradually connected with SeekersGuidance. He embarked on his journey of learning through the various teachers at SeekersGuidance, including his mentor Shaykh Faraz Rabbani. He studied numerous texts in Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith, and other areas with Shaykh Faraz Rabbani and other teachers, including Shaykh Abdurrahman al-Sha‘ar, Shaykh Ali Hani, and others. He is an active instructor at SeekersGuidance and answers questions through the SeekersGuidance Answers Service.
