In the name of Allah the Merciful

Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you.

We are a group of young Muslim people who work in a company and we have a special room for praying the 5 daily prayers at office, and because our group is limited, sometimes someone comes late for praying, and since he does not usually find a place, he prays behind us alone, and nobody may not come later to pray beside him during the whole prayer. Our question is: What is the Shari’ah ruling on the prayer of the lonesome praying man behind rows? And if he prayed one Rak’ah, and someone else comes and joins him, is that first Rak’ah void and his prayer is counted upon from the coming of the other one, or should he pray it back? Please, kindly counsel us, Jazakum Allahu Khairan for the great services you render to Islam and Muslims. Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah be upon you.

In the name of Allah the Merciful

Praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon His kind Messenger, his family members, companions and followers.

The masses of Shari’ah scholars (they are: Al-Hasan, Malik, Al-Awza’I, Al-Shafi’I, and Al-Hanafiyah) approved the prayer of the alone praying man behind rows, because Abou-Bakr, may Allah be content with him, made a Rak’ah behind the rows when he found the prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, making a Rak’ah, and the prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, did not order him to pray back, but he told him: “May Allah make you more careful and do not pray back”. And because it was a case for women, it was also a case for men. However, the Hanbalis maintain that such praying is void and said that it should be prayed back, and they refer to the Hadith narrated by Wabessah Ben Me’bed, that “The prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, saw a man praying alone behind rows and he ordered him to pray back”, (Reported by Abou-Dawoud and others).

The point is that issue is a controversial topic among Shari’ah scholars, and the best thing is that the man who comes later, should join the row, by giving the praying people in the row to make space to him, and that he should not withdraw one man back from the row to join with him in a new row, but if he could not, then he should pray with the community of the praying people even if he prays alone behind the rows, according to the view maintained by the masses of Shari’ah scholars.

As for the later one who comes to joining him after one Rak’ah, this does not change the matter, but if he joined him from the start, then their prayer would be a 100 percent correct by consensus.

I pray to Allah to reward you for your care for asking about the rulings and the rites and rules of your religion, and such is the case with a true and a sincere Muslim with his Lord, and may Allah help us hold firm onto His religion and obedience – Amen! Allah knows best.