It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Shall I not guide you to such deeds through which Allah forgives sins and increases good deeds? They said: Why not, O Messenger of Allah! He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Performing ablution perfectly despite dislikes, taking many steps towards these mosques, and waiting for the next prayer after performing one prayer. Whoever among you leaves his house in a state of ablution and, after offering a prayer with the Muslims, sits in the same place waiting for the next prayer, the angels pray for him: O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! Have mercy on him. When you stand for prayer, straighten and align your rows and fill the gaps, for indeed I see you from behind my back. When your Imam says Allahu Akbar, you also say Allahu Akbar; when he bows (in ruku‘), you bow; and when he says Sami‘ Allahu liman hamidah, you say Rabbana lakal hamd. Indeed, the best rows for men are the front rows and the worst are the last rows, and the best rows for women are the last rows and the worst are the front rows. O assembly of women! When the men go into prostration, lower your gaze so that, due to their garments being short, you do not see their private parts.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The best row for men is the front one and their worst row is the last one, and the worst row for women is the front one and their best row is the last one.

A similar hadith is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), in which these additional words are present: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O group of women! When men go into prostration, lower your gaze, so that due to the shortness of the men's lower garments, you do not see their private parts.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Straighten and align the rows in prayer, for indeed straightening and aligning the rows is part of the beauty of prayer.

Bashir bin Yasar says: Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) came (to Madinah Munawwarah from Basrah). We asked him: What thing seems strange and new to you compared to the time of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: I do not find anything strange among you, except this one thing—that you do not straighten and align your rows.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Before saying the opening Takbir, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would turn towards us and say: Join together firmly (and in one narration: straighten your rows and join together), and be aligned, for indeed I see you from behind me.

Sayyiduna Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to straighten our rows just as the shafts of arrows are straightened, until when he thought that we had learned this from him and understood this method, one day he turned towards us and saw that a man’s chest was protruding forward. At that time, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You will certainly straighten your rows, or Allah the Exalted will create discord between your faces.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw unnecessary delay among his companions and said: Move forward and follow me, and those behind you should follow you. (Be aware that) people keep falling behind, until Allah will put them behind on the Day of Resurrection.

Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When we would stand for prayer, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would come to us and touch our shoulders or chests and say: Do not differ in this matter, otherwise your hearts will become opposed to one another. And he used to say: Indeed, Allah and His angels send mercy upon those in the first row.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: One day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us and said: What is the reason that I see you raising your hands like the tails of unruly horses? Be calm in prayer. Then once he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us and, seeing us sitting in groups, said: What is the reason that you are in the form of different groups? Then once he came to us and said: Do you not form rows as the angels form rows before their Lord? The people said: O Messenger of Allah! How do the angels form rows before their Lord? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: They complete the front rows first and stand together firmly in the row.