Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I read the reply to the earlier question about the feet. The answer was a bit vague. Is it not better to take the position of the sahaba than someone after them. It is established in Sahih Bukhari that the sahaba “prayed” with shoulders and feet joined and not just lined up like this before prayer to straighten the rows. If they did pray like this, one can say that it is not a command but what warrant someone leaving an action of the sahaba just because it is not a command. Also what hadith is used to support the gap of four fingers?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
It is not established that it was the practice of the Sahaba to place feet next to each other regularly.
Some hadiths also mention ‘knee to knee’ and ‘neck to neck.’ If you check any of the many authoritative hadith commentaries, it is clear that what is meant is two matters:
(a) stand level with each other;
(b) to stand without gaps.
2. The four fingers is simply a description of keeping feet normally close: neither together nor far apart. As explained, this is directly understood from the sunna.
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Faraz Rabbani.