Question Summary
What is the ruling of keeping social distancing during the prayer due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Is this bid’a?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
It is prohibitively disliked to leave empty a gap in the row that a person could fit in in normal circumstances. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
Leaving a Sunna is Not Innovation
Even though this is disliked, it is not considered an innovation. Innovation applies to something newly introduced in the Religion that goes against the teaching of the Qur’an and the Sunna. [Birgiwi, al-Tariqa al-Muhammadiyya]
Merely leaving out a Sunna is not innovation.
Praying While Social Distancing
However, due to the gravity of the current global health crisis, the great scholars and jurist of our time, such as Shaykh Khalid Kharsa, Shaykh Hassan Hindi, and Mufti Taha Karaan, encourage to follow the regulations of social distancing, even if this entails leaving the Sunna of filling the rows.
See the following links for more details:
Guidance on the Coronavirus & Attending the Mosque
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/general-counsel/guidance-on-the-coronavirus-attending-the-mosque/
Dealing with the Coronavirus – Mufti Taha Karaan
https://seekersguidance.org/podcast-feeds/dealing-with-the-coronavirus-mufti-taha-karaan/
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani