Sayyiduna Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would turn towards us and say: Straighten your rows. He would say this three times (then he would say:) Either you straighten your rows or Allah will create discord among you. The narrator says: I saw that every person would join his ankle with the ankle of the one next to him and his shoulder with the shoulder of his companion. The narrator named Abu al-Qasim al-Jadali’s name is Husayn bin Harith. He belonged to Jadilah Qais and was a trustworthy narrator from Kufa.

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Straighten your rows in prayer, for straightening the rows is part of the beauty of prayer."

Sayyiduna Abu Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pass his hand over our shoulders (before starting the prayer) and would say:“Do not differ with one another (in straightening the rows) or your hearts will differ. Let those among you who are wise and experienced stand closest to me, then those after them in rank, then those after them in rank.”

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Establish beauty in forming the rows during prayer, and the best row among the people in prayer is the first one, and the least good is the last one. And among the rows of women, the best row is the last one, and the least good is the first one."

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Let those among you who are wise and experienced stand close to me, then those who are next in rank, then those who are next after them in rank. Do not differ among yourselves (only in straightening the rows), otherwise your hearts will become divided, and try to avoid the noise and commotion of the markets." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:): This narrator named Abu Ma'shar is Ziyad bin Kulayb, who is from Kufa and is 'thiqah' (trustworthy). He is not Abu Ma'shar Sindi, because he is from Baghdad and is a 'da'if' (weak) narrator.

Qais bin ‘Abad narrates: Once I was present in the first row in a mosque in Madinah Munawwarah and was standing and performing prayer. A person from behind pulled me and moved me aside and stood in my place. By Allah! I lost track of my prayer. Then when he completed the prayer, he was Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka‘b (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: O my nephew! May Allah not do bad to you, this is a covenant from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with us that we should stand close to you (i.e., near the Imam). Then he turned towards the Qiblah and said: The people of the covenant, by the Lord of the Ka‘bah, have perished. He said this three times, then he said: By Allah! There is no regret for those people. Regret is for those who led them astray. The narrator says: I asked: Who are those meant by this? He replied: The rulers.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "When a person, while performing prayer, removes his shoes, he should not cause harm to anyone with them; rather, he should place them between his two feet or else wear them and perform the prayer."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When a person offers prayer, he should either keep his shoes on or take them off and place them between his feet; he should not cause harm to anyone else through them."

Abu Al-Ala narrates from his father that he saw the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) performing prayer. He was wearing patched sandals.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer. When he had performed the prayer, he took off his shoes and placed them to his left. The people present also took off their shoes. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) completed the prayer, he asked: Why did you take off your shoes? The people replied: We saw you take off your shoes, so we also took ours off. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I did not take them off due to any fault, but rather Jibreel informed me that there was impurity on them. When any person comes to the mosque, he should examine his shoes; if there is impurity on them, he should clean it off.