Sunday, August 02, 2009

Row, row your prayer!

Is it true that kids should pray at the back row, behind men?

There is only one hadith that mentioned that the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam arranged kids to pray behind men's row. This hadith is narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and al-Bayhaqi. However, Shaykh al-Albaniy commented that this hadith is weak, and could not be used to support any argument. Why? Because this is the only hadith - no other hadith from other chains exist to support this.

On the other hand, al-Bukhariy reported that Anas ibn Malik radiyallahu 'anhu prayed with an orphan in one row behind the Prophet. In Islamic Jurisprudence, an orphan is a kid. So this is actually a proof that kids can pray together with men in one row.

At the same time, Muslim reported that the best row for men is the first, while the best row for women is the last row. That's why, to my understanding, women should pray at the last row, behind girls. If the women are to pray in front of the girls, then the girls will get the best reward.

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