Manners: Respect & Reverence – 6. Who deserves to be at the front?

Manners: Respect & Reverence – 6. Who deserves to be at the front?

Bismillah, alhamdulillah: We can draw lessons form the following hadith about who deserves to be placed in a prominent position when it comes to gatherings, this hadith is reported by `Abū Mas’ūd al-Anṣāriyy and collected by Muslim:

[THE] MESSENGER OF ALLAH (ﷺ) WOULD PLACE HIS HANDS UPON OUR SHOULDERS WHEN WE WOULD FORM ROWS FOR AS-SALAT (THE PRAYER) AND SAY, “STAND IN STRAIGHT ROWS AND DO NOT DIFFER AMONG YOURSELVES, OR ELSE YOUR HEARTS WILL DIFFER. LET THOSE BE NEAREST TO ME WHO ARE MATURE AND ENDOWED WITH UNDERSTANDING (OF THE RELIGION), THEN THOSE WHO ARE NEAREST TO THEM IN THESE RESPECTS AND THEN THOSE WHO ARE NEAREST TO THEM”.

Let;’s read that again with some explanatory notes …

[THE] MESSENGER OF ALLAH ﷺ WOULD PLACE HIS HANDS UPON OUR SHOULDERS …

… showing the importance of a leaders guidance and the symbolism of the hands creating a sense of unity …

WHEN WE WOULD FORM ROWS FOR AS-SALAH (THE PRAYER)

… THE PRAYER is essentially a gathering of people. It happens to be for the purpose of prayer but it acts as a basis for how we should behave when we gather together in other gatherings too such as meetings at work or home etc …

AND SAY, “STAND IN STRAIGHT ROWS AND DO NOT DIFFER AMONG YOURSELVES, OR ELSE YOUR HEARTS WILL DIFFER. LET THOSE BE NEAREST TO ME

… The Prophet ﷺ would position some of the Companions closer to him than others. Likewise, any meeting or gathering of people usually has a place of prominence. It can be at the front like in prayer, lectures or at the back as in times of war when the leaders and key generals are placed behind the front lines. Each gathering will have a key place and the Prophet ﷺ was teaching through his ﷺ actions that the key people should be placed at these key positions. But what principle did he ﷺ use for the basis of his ﷺ arrangement?

Let’s read on …

LET THOSE BE NEAREST TO ME … WHO ARE MATURE AND ENDOWED WITH UNDERSTANDING (OF THE RELIGION), THEN THOSE WHO ARE NEAREST TO THEM IN THESE RESPECTS AND THEN THOSE WHO ARE NEAREST TO THEM”.

…He ﷺ placed those who were MATURE and ENDOWED WITH UNDERSTANDING (OF THE RELIGION) closest to him ﷺ during the prayer and then placed those people who were closest to them in their level of maturity and knowledge. This arrangement can be seen through the lens of respect and honour. Placing people based on their levels of maturity and knowledge is a way of honouring them. Likewise this principle can be generalised to other meetings, such as: courts, classrooms, business meetings, family gatherings etc. A person organising such a gathering should take into account the age, maturity, piety, knowledge and social background of those attending and use this as a basis of arranging them suitably. This allows the whole group to benefit from such a gathering in a way that is better and more synergistic than a group which is either organised on a haphazard (random) or homogenised (equally mixed) basis.

May Allah help us refine our manners and learn from the practical examples of the Prophet ﷺ.

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