Prayer: The Gap Between the Follower and the Imam

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Ayatullah Sistani

Ruling 1415

The obligatory precaution is that between the place where a follower performs sajdah and the imam stands, there must not be a gap of more than a person’s largest normal step.[¹] The same applies with regard to a follower who is linked to the imam by another follower in front of him. And the recommended precaution is that between the place where a follower stands and the place where another follower stands in front of him, there should not be a gap of more than the space needed for a person to perform sajdah.

-Ayatullah Sistani, Practical Laws of Islam, Prayer (Salah)

1. In Tawḍīḥ al‑Masāʾil‑i Jāmiʿ, ‘a large step’ is defined as ‘approximately one metre’ (vol. 1, p. 484, Ruling 1710).