I prayed the Friday prayer with Anas bin Malik, and we ended up among the pillars, so we moved forward and backward to avoid them. Anas said, "We used to avoid this during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
صليت مع أنس بن مالك يوم الجمعة فدفعنا إلى السواري، فتقدمنا وتأخرنا، فقال أنس: كنا نتقي هذا على عهد رسول الله ﷺ.
Narrated by Abu Dawud (673), and this is his wording, Tirmidhi (229), and Nasai (821), all through the route of Sufyan, from Yahya bin Hani, from Abdul-Hameed bin Mahmud, who related the hadith. Their wording is, "We were with Anas, and we prayed with one of the commanders. They pushed forward until we had to stand and pray between the pillars." Anas then began to move back and said what Abu Dawud related. Tirmidhi said, "The hadith of Anas is a hasan hadith," and in another narration, "sahih. Some people of knowledge disliked forming rows between the pillars, and this is the view of Ahmad and Ishaq, while others permitted it." End of quote.I say, its chain is hasan, for Abdul-Hameed bin Mahmud al-Mawali is among those narrated from sparingly. Abu Hatim said of him, "a shaykh," and Nasai declared him trustworthy. Ibn Khuzayma (1568), Ibn Hibban (2218), Hakim (1/210), and the Hafiz in Fath al-Bari (1/578) all graded it sahih.It has been said that the wisdom behind this is that the pillar breaks the continuity of the row, and this applies to congregational prayer. As for someone praying alone, there is no dislike in praying between the pillars. Bukhari titled a chapter, "Prayer between the pillars, when not in congregation," and reported under it the hadith of Ibn Umar, that the Prophet ﷺ entered the Kaaba and prayed between the two front pillars (hadith number in Fath al-Bari, 504). In another narration, "He placed one pillar to his left and one pillar to his right," and in another narration, "two pillars to his right and three pillars behind him. The House at that time stood on six pillars. Then he prayed" (hadith number in Fath al-Bari, 505).As for what Ibn Majah (1002) narrated from Zayd bin Akhzam Abu Talib, who said, Abu Dawud and Abu Qutayba narrated to us, both saying, Harun bin Muslim narrated to us, from Qatada, from Muawiya bin Qurra, from his father (Qurra bin Iyas), who said, "We used to be forbidden from forming rows between the pillars in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we would be driven away from them," this is daif, for Harun bin Muslim Abu Muslim al-Basri was described by Abu Hatim and Dhahabi as "unknown," and the Hafiz placed him at the level of "obscure." The hadith is in Musnad Abu Dawud (1169). As for Ibn Hibban, he mentioned Harun bin Muslim among the trustworthy narrators (7/581), following his usual approach. His teacher Ibn Khuzayma also narrated the hadith (1567), and from him it appears in his own Sahih (2219) through this same route.As for Abu Qutayba, he is Salm bin Qutayba al-Shuayri al-Khurasani, who settled in Basra, "truthful," among the narrators of Bukhari as stated in al-Taqrib. Bazzar said, "We do not know of anyone who narrated this hadith from Qatada except Harun," as mentioned by the Hafiz in his biographical entry in al-Tahdhib.Bayhaqi, may Allah have mercy on him, said (3/104), "This is because the pillar comes between them and the continuity of the row. But if one is praying alone and does not extend beyond the space between the two pillars, there is no dislike in it, if Allah wills, based on what we have related in the established hadith from Ibn Umar, who said, I asked Bilal where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had prayed, meaning inside the Kaaba, and he said, Between the two front pillars."