Issue 688: To offer congregational prayer, the following conditions must be fulfilled:

1- The members of the congregation must not stand ahead of the congregation leader, and as a recommended precaution, they should stand behind him.

2- The place where the Imam stands must not be higher than place where the members of the congregation stand.

3- The distance between the Imam and the followers and also between the lines must not be long; If the distance is longer than three feet, the prayers of the followers will be considered as solitary prayers but they will be valid.

4- No obstruction must be there between the Imam and the followers and also between the lines. Obstruction in this case, refers to things like walls or curtains through which objects cannot be seen. However, it does not matter to hang curtains between the line of men and the line of woman.

Issue 689: If the congregation leader is in the prayer niche (Mihraab) of the mosque, and nobody is praying right behind him, those followers who are praying at the sides of the niche and because of the niche walls cannot see the Imam, they cannot follow the Imam in prayers, but if someone stands right behind the Imam and thus can see him praying, the prayers of those standing at the sides of the niche will be in order.

Issue 690: If some of the followers standing in the first row cannot see the Imam because of the line being very long, they can still follow him in prayers. Similarly, if the followers standing in one row cannot see the followers in their front row due to the length of their own line, they can still follow the congregation.