Once I was in a congregational prayer when the person next to me pulled me toward him to fill a gap in the line, but my concentration was disturbed. To my knowledge when one is praying he should behave as one standing in front of God who is watching him. Is the action done acceptable?
You are right and the person who pulled you to fill the gap is right as well. It is true that when we are engaged in prayer, we should be fully concentrating on the task at hand, realizing that we are standing in front of God, addressing Him and He is listening to us. Therefore, our concentration on prayer should be at its highest. However, when we are in congregational prayer, we should also make sure that we stand in lines as we have been taught by the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Each line starts exactly behind the imam who should always be kept in the middle. This means that people should stand either to the right or the left of the center point leaving no gaps between them. They can ensure that by standing shoulder to shoulder in straight lines. If there is a gap in a line, the person next to it should move to fill it, making sure that the one who moves is the one whose movement is toward the center. If you see a gap in the line in front of you, you should move up to fill it. At no time gaps may be left in the lines. If you make such a move, you are able to regain concentration easily.
• Prayers: Forgetfulness in prayer
Once I was leading a congregation in Maghrib prayer but I omitted to recite loudly in the first two rak'ahs through forgetfulness. When I had finished, one of these who prayed with me said that we should have offered two prostrations for forgetfulness, otherwise our prayer was invalid. Please comment.
It is recommended to recite loudly in the two rak'ahs of Fajr and the first two rak'ahs in each of the obligatory prayers of Maghrib and Isha. Whether a person is praying alone or leading a congregation, he should follow this recommendation. The two prostrations, i.e. sujood, which are offered at the end of one's prayer and give the name of "sujood sahu", compensate for any omission or addition due to forgetfulness. Books of Fiqh abound in details of which errors in prayers may be compensated for with these prostrations. It is perhaps sufficient to say here that if a worshipper omits certain types of obligatory actions of prayer, he should offer these two prostrations before he finishes his prayers. As for recommended things, i.e. those known as sunnah in prayer, no compensation is required for omitting them. Since they are not obligatory, why should something be offered in their stead? Nevertheless, some of these qualify for two prostrations of 'sahu' when they are omitted through forgetfulness.
With regard to reciting aloud or in secret, the rule is well known. As I have already said, reciting aloud in Fajr, Maghrib and Isha is recommended, i.e. a sunnah. Scholars have expressed different views with regard to the omission of reciting aloud and whether it qualifies to be compensated for with two prostrations of 'sahu'. All that we need to say here is that if one offers these two prostrations, one does well and good. If he omits to do them, his prayer is perfectly valid.
Perhaps I should add that if a worshipper who is offering a day prayer, i.e. Dhuhr or Asr, recites aloud in the first two rak'ahs through forgetfulness, and while praying he remembers that he need not have recited aloud, he should continue his loud recitation in the first two rak'ahs. If the reverse situation occurs and a worshipper recites in secret in Fajr, Maghrib or Isha and then he remembers that he should have begun his recitation loudly, he has the choice whether to continue his recitation in private or to start again aloud, while continuing his prayer. He needs to interrupt it and start again. What this boils down to is that your prayer and that of congregation you led was valid, although you have not offered these two prostrations of 'sahu'. Your friend who objected was wrong in saying that the prayer was not valid. Had you done these prostrations, that would have been appropriate as well.
• Prayers: Friday congregation at workplace
Is it permissible to offer Friday prayer anywhere other than a mosque? I work on a site where the nearest mosque is about 20 km away, and when it is time for Friday prayer, we are actually working. There are only a few Muslim workers while the majority are non-Muslims. When we inquired about the possibility of taking time off for prayers, we were told to pray on site. Is that permissible?
Friday prayer is very important, and it must be offered in congregation. It is meant to tackle the situation of the Muslim community and to remind people of God and the Day of Judgment. God has prohibited buying and selling at the time of Friday prayer, making it clear that when the Friday prayer is called, all Muslims should go straight to attend the prayer, and they must stop trading. This ban extends to every sort of activity, which is meant to earn money. So an employee should leave his job and attend the prayers.
However, special circumstances may exempt one from attending the prayer. One of them is the non-availability of a mosque or a congregation at a convenient place. In your case, your employer would not have been able to prevent you join the prayers if there was a mosque locally where you could have attended the prayer. But traveling such a distance is not required to attend the prayer.
Therefore, the best alternative is that the small group of Muslims at your work site should arrange that the prayer is held every Friday on site. One of you may deliver the Khutbah [which need not necessarily be in Arabic] and lead the prayer. In this way, you have the reward of the prayer and none of you misses it while at the same time you do not need to take time off for that purpose.