Unity of Place and Connection of Ranks in Congregational Prayer from the Perspective of Jurisprudence of Islamic Denominations

One of the conditions of the congregational prayer is the connection between the ranks of the prayer. According to the jurisprudence of the Imamiyyah, the ranks of the prayer should not be more than one step or a distance that is considered to be customarily close, whether the Imam and the follower are in the same place like a mosque or different places. Traditions, consensus and requirements of the custom of the believers, are among the evidences of Imamiyyah’s view. Sunni scholars, referring to the consensus, believe that in the case of unity of place in congregational prayer, it is sufficient for followers to be aware of the Imam’s prayers to follow him, and if the prayer is performed in the mosque, the congregational prayer is correct even if the ranks are distant, and if the prayer is performed outside the mosque, some consider the distance less than 300 meters necessary and some believe that a customary closeness is sufficient but some others believe that closeness of the ranks is not necessary. In this paper, using descriptive-analytical method and library resources, we study and analyze different perspectives in this field in order to achieve the Shariah order of joining the ranks of congregational prayer and explaining the amount of distance between ranks. According to the research findings and the author’s point of view, the necessity to observe a standard step distance between ranks whether in the mosque or outside is proportionate and the unity of prayer is not included in this order.