Islam came to instill good characteristics in people, to maintain good manners and protect people’s rights, and no one should transgress against his brother’s rights, even if this transgression is minor. In this hadith, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade a man to make his brother who reached a seat in a gathering before him get up and then sit in his place, because this is a transgression against the rights of his brother who came early and hastened to do good and to attain the reward of coming early to the gathering and sitting in the first row. Moreover, the mosque is the house of Allah, and the people in the mosque are equal, so whoever comes first to a place has more right to it. What is meant by brother here is a brother in Islam. It may be that what is meant is that if a person gets up from his place for a reason – such as going to do wudu’ and the like – it is most likely that he will return to this place, so no one should rush to take this seat and sit there, because the one who got up from it has more right to it if he comes back to it, and if someone else sits there, he should get up when the first person comes back. This ruling does not apply only to Jumu‘ah, as Nafi‘, the freed slave of Ibn ‘Umar, explained. The hadith only referred to this in particular because people gather for Jumu‘ah, and the first rows are for those who come first, then those who come after them. Rather the ruling applies to any gathering of people, whether it is for religious or worldly purposes..