the Imam. It differs from the one behind the Imam, as he does not need to look behind him in order to follow.

Section: If the follower is a single male, the Sunnah is that he stands to the right of the Imam, whether he is a man or a boy, based on the hadith of Ibn Abbas and Anas. Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated: "I went with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on an expedition. He stood to pray, so I performed ablution, then I came and stood to the left of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He took my hand and turned me around until he made me stand to his right. Then Jabbar ibn Sakhr came and stood to his left, so he took our hands together until he made us stand behind him." Narrated by Muslim and Abu Dawud. If there are three, the Imam moves forward and the two followers stand behind him. This is the opinion of Umar, Ali, Jabir ibn Zayd, al-Hasan, Ata, al-Shafi'i, and the scholars of reasoning (Ahl al-Ra'y). Ibn Mas'ud held the view that they should all stand in one row. Our evidence is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) moved Jabbar and Jabir, placing them behind him, and when he prayed with Anas and the orphan, he placed them behind him. The hadith of Ibn Mas'ud indicates the permissibility of that, while the hadith of Jabir and Jabbar indicates the superior way, because he moved them to himself, and he would only move them to what is more perfect. If one of the followers is a child and the prayer is a voluntary one (tatawwu'), he places them behind him, according to the report of Anas. If it is an obligatory prayer (fard), he places the man to his right and the boy to his left, as it came in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. If he places them both to his right, it is permissible. If he places them behind him, some of our companions said: It is not valid, because he does not follow him as an Imam, so he does not stand in a row with him, like a woman. It is possible that it is valid, because he is in the position of one performing a voluntary prayer, and it is valid for one performing a voluntary prayer to stand in a row with one performing an obligatory one; the same applies here.

Section: If he leads a woman in prayer, she stands behind him, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Place them behind, just as Allah has placed them behind." And because the mother of Anas stood behind them by herself. If there is with them...