Prayer in Congregation

By Abdulllah as-Sabt Source: salafipublications 

All praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds, and may Allah bless and save His noble Messenger. Salaat (prayer) is of the most important of the pillars of the Deen (religion) and establishing salaat like Allah ta'aala and thus His Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, want us to is the best way to get close to the Lord of the Heavens and Earth. This includes establishing salaat in jamaa'ah (congregation).

The jamaa'ah prayer has great rewards and benefits; however, it is a true pity that these benefits have been missed by slacking off in its performance. The majority of those that pray have also lost the etiquette's of salaat al-jamaa'ah and the proper quest for it, and have thus forbidden themselves great benefit and good.

The factor that has aided in the desertion of the mosques – even though the situation has now changed, and the youth are heading to the mosques – I say that what has aided in the desertion of the mosques is that which is frequently boasted by advising brothers saying that salaat al-jamaa'ah is a sunnah mu'akkadah (confirmed regular practice of the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, yet the term is used here to imply that it is optional). This has led to the negligence of prayer in congregation.

Since the evidence that salaat al-jamaa'ah is obligatory is so strong and clear I felt that I should point this matter out to my praying brothers as an advice, and in anticipation of the reward. I do not intend to discuss the ahaadeeth (plural for hadeeth) which explain the benefits of salaat al-jamaa'ah, nor those that explain the proper way of performing it for other writers have addressed these.

Finally I ask Allah to make us all successful in reaching what He loves, and is pleased by. He is the One that is capable of that. I ask Him that He saves the reward for the Day of greatest presentation.

'Abdullah As-Sabt
Kuwait, Rabee' Al-Awwal 1401 A. H.

INTRODUCTION

The salaat has a great status in Islam and it has been warned against neglecting its performance. It also has a great trace or mark in the islaah (correction, purification, and causing to become one that means well) of the Muslim and in increasing his faith, and for this reason many 'ibaadaat (acts of worship) have accompanied it like wudu' and walking to the mosque.

I will present the texts that are related to salaat al-jamaa'ah. After having traced through the evidence, it has become apparent to me that salaat al-jamaa'ah is obligatory upon each and every male Muslim that is capable.

In order to make the matter easier for the reader to follow I have arranged this research by first displaying the evidence that salaat al-jamaa'ah is obligatory. Followed by the evidence of those that claim salaat al-jamaa'ah to be only a voluntary sunnah as well as a discussion of that evidence.

I have paid special attention to stay away from the statements of men which are without evidence. The reason for this is that in matters of dispute statements of one person or another which are not substantiated with proof are of equal weight. It is only with evidence that we can select one person's opinion over another's.

EVIDENCE OF THOSE SAYING IT IS OBLIGATORY

A- EVIDENCE FROM THE QUR'ÂN

First Evidence: Our Lord, blessed and exalted is He, said in Surah 4, Verse 102 what may be translated as:

"When you are with them, and stand to lead them in salaat, Let one party of them stand up (in salaat) with you. Taking their arms with them: When they finish their prostrations, let them take their position in the rear, and let the other party come up which has not yet established salaat, and let them establish salaat with you."

1 - In this verse there is an order to establish salaat, and the order was repeated once more, " ......and let the other party...."

2 - There is evidence here that the jamaa'ah, meaning the congregational prayer, is obligatory on all because the obligation did not fall from being upon the second party simply by the congregation of the first.

3 - Allah has commanded a congregational prayer in a state of war and fear, and if it were only a sunnah then it would have been better to abandon the congregational prayer; however, since Allah has ordered it, and obligations like following the imaam were relaxed so as to allow the second party to pray behind the imaam as well, this stands as clear proof that congregational prayer is obligatory.

4 - This is clear evidence, and there is none amongst Muslims (scholars) that denies the salaat of fear ordered in this verse.

Second Evidence: Our Lord, The Exalted, said in Surah 68, Verse 42-43 what may be translated as:

"The day that a Shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to prostrate, but they shall not be able to. Their eyes will be cast down - ignominy will cover them, seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration while they were whole [and had refused]".

The evidence here is from several facets amongst them:

1 - Allah, glorified and exalted is He, punished them because they did not answer the call to prostrate.

2 - The one that is calling to salaat is the one calling athaan. As has been explained by the hadeeth of Ibn Abi Maktoom: the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, asked him: "Do you hear 'Hayya 'alas-salaat, Hayya 'alal-falaah' (Come to the prayer, Come to prosperity)?" He said: "Yes". Then the prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "fahayhala", which means something like "then go answer the call". This hadeeth is saheeh (which means 'authentic' and is narrated by Abu Daawood and Ahmad.

3 - Points out that one who does not answer the call, has not answered.

Third Evidence: Allah ta'aala said in Surah 2, Verse 43, what might be translated as: "Establish salaat and pay [your] zakaat and bow with those who are bowing". The proof therein is:

1 - That He, Who is Glorified and Exalted, ordered us to bow, and this is a command to salaat because bowing is a pillar of salaat.

2 - His statement which was translated as "with those who are bowing" is an order to bow with those who are bowing, and that is not accomplished except through congregation. So this indicates that salaat al-jamaa'ah is obligatory because the meaning of the verse is not accomplished except through congregation.

B- EVIDENCE FROM THE SUNNAH

First Evidence: Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be content with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "The heaviest salaat for the hypocrite is that of Ishaa' and Fajr, and if they knew what was in them they would have attended them even if it meant crawling, and I have a compelling desire to order the salaat to be established, then order a man to lead the people in salaat, whereupon, I would go with some men carrying bundles of wood to a people not attending the salaat and burn their houses on them". Agreed upon by Bukhaari and Muslim, and this was Muslim's version.

This hadeeth proves that salaat al-jamaa'ah is obligatory because one's house would not be burned down for having left an optional deed. Those of the opinion that salaat al-jamaa'ah is not obligatory find refuge in a few excuses with regards to this hadeeth which follow:

1 - They said this punishment is in reference to those that do not attend the Jum'ah (Friday) prayer, and their evidence in this regard is the hadeeth of 'Abdullaah bin Mas'ood reported by Muslim that the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to a people that miss the Friday prayer: "I have a compelling desire to order a person to lead the salaat, whereupon, I would burn the homes of those that have missed the Friday prayer". This is not in contradiction to the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah because Ibn Mas'ood is stating that the burning is for those who miss the Friday prayer, and Abu Hurayrah is stating that the burning is for those that miss salaat al-jamaa'ah and there is no contradiction between the two because the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah clearly states the Ishaa' and Fajr and it is likely that what is meant is to show that both cases are worthy of the burning.

2 - They say: This has been abrogated! My reply is: Where is the proof that this has been abrogated, and who reported it? However, to simply claim abrogation without evidence is a forgery upon Allah which is not backed by any knowledge.

3 - They say: The prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, wanted to burn their houses because they were hypocrites, not because they did not attend the prayer in congregation. The best rebuttal of this statement was given by Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, in his statement: "As for your claim that he wanted to punish them because of their hypocrisy, and not for missing the congregation this implies two errors:

The first: Nullifying what the Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, confirmed and related to missing the congregation.

The second: Confirming what the Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, nullified. For he never punished the hypocrites for their hypocrisy; to the contrary, he used to accept from them what they announced, and left what they concealed between them and Allah.

As such the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah remains a strong argument for the obligation of salaat al-jamaa'ah.

Second Evidence: What Muslim narrated in his Saheeh that a blind man said: "Oh Messenger of Allah, I do not have anyone to guide me to the Mosque", and thus asked the Messenger, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, to grant him special permission not to attend congregational prayers. As he was leaving, the Messenger called him and said: "Do you hear the call? ", he said: "Yes". He, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Then answer". Authentic versions narrated by Ahmad and others came as: It has been narrated by Ibn Maktoom that he said: "Oh Messenger of Allah, I am blind, live far away, and have a guide that does not suit me, so can't you give me consent to pray at home?" He said: "Do you hear the call?" Ibn Maktoom replied: "Yes"; whereupon, the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "I find no excuse for you".

If the blind man has no excuse not to pray in congregation, how can there be an excuse for the one that can see?

Those that conclude salaat al-jamaa'ah to be a sunnah say: "This is an order implying preference of prayer in congregation not the obligation of salaat al-jamaa'ah (prayer in congregation)".

The response to this is that since the command here was expressed in a general sense, no one can say that it is only to be understood in a specific manner without having evidence to substantiate such a claim. Thus evidence is required in order to be able to claim that this command only indicates the preference of prayer in congregation as opposed to being a command which indicates both the preference, and the obligation upon a Muslim to pray in congregation. When the remaining evidence is taken into consideration, however, it is found to confirm that prayer in congreation is obligatory rather than confirming it to be simply preferred and optional. If supportive evidence were not necessary to conclude that a command implies only preference, then each and every command could be understood to imply preference, and nothing would remain obligatory.

Third Evidence: Ibn 'Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, narrated that the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "Whoever hears the call to salaat, and does not respond, then there is no salaat for him unless he has a [valid] excuse". This is a sound and authentic hadeeth.

Ibn Al-Qayyim wrote in his Risaalat As-salaat: " . . . and mind you this chain (referring to the chain of narration of the above hadeeth) is authentic". This hadeeth has been narrated by Abu Daawood, Ibn Maajah, Ad-Daaraqutni, Al-Haakim, Al-Baghawi, Bayhaqi, and has also been traced and judged authentic by the following scholars: Ath-Thahabi, Al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaani, Ibn Taymiya, Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah and Al-Albaani. Some have spoken about this hadeeth, claiming that its chain of narration is stopped (literal translation for the Arabic word mawqoof); however, the authentic chains of narrations which have been traced to the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, contradict their claim.

This hadeeth states that whoever does not answer the call, there is no salaat for him, and this judgment would not be passed to someone who is simply going against an order which implies preference, and not obligation.

Fourth Evidence: 'Abdullaah bin Mas'ood said: whoever would be pleased to meet Allah as a Muslim, then let him take care of those salaat which are called to because they are of the ways of hudaa (guidance), and Allah has taught your Prophet the ways of hudaa. And if you were to establish salaat in your homes, like that person staying behind in his home, you would be abandoning the sunnah of your Prophet, and if you were to abandon the sunnah of your prophet you would surely go astray. And there is not a man amongst you that purifies himself (yatatahhar), and does so properly, then directs himself to one of these mosques except that Allah will write for him with each step he takes a hasanah (merit), raise him a grade, and drop from him a sayyi'ah (demerit). And I have seen us [meaning I recall clearly], where not one of us would stay behind from prayer in congregation except for a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known. And one that could not come on his own would be carried between two men until he is stood in the row.

In another narration he said: "The Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, taught us the ways of hudaa, and amongst the ways of hudaa is salaat in the mosque in which athaan is called". Reported by Muslim.

The evidence in this hadeeth is that not praying in congregation is considered a sign of confirmed hypocrisy. It is known that the signs of hypocrisy are those of abandoning something which is obligatory, or doing something which is haraam (unlawful). And there is not a Muslim in whose heart imaan (faith) has established itself, that would want to be like the hypocrites in their attributes.

Fifth Evidence:

1 - Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudree said that the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "If there are three let one of them be their imaam, and the one with the strongest right to be imaam is the one that is the best reciter of the Qur'aan (both in terms of the amount memorized, and ability to recite it properly)".

2 - Abi Ad-Dardaa' said that the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "There are not three in a town where no athaan is called, and congregational prayers are not established amongst them except that the Shaytaan will overcome them, so you must stick to jamaa'ah because the wolf gets the stray one". Authentic hadeeth narrated by Abu Daawood and Ahmad.

Sixth Evidence: Abi Asha'thaa' Al-Muhaaribi said: We were sitting in the masjid (mosque) then the Mu'ath-thin (the one that makes the call to prayer) made the call to prayer. Then a man got up from the masjid walking. Abu Hurayrah followed him with his sight until he left the masjid. Then Abu Hurayrah said: "As for this person he has disobeyed Abal Qaasim (the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)". Narrated by Muslim.

Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, judged this man as having disobeyed Abal Qaasim, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and Abu Hurayrah would not have passed this verdict without knowledge of the sunnah of Abal Qaasim, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And whosoever is considered among the disobedient then he has left something which is obligatory.

These, my Muslim brothers are some of the pieces of evidence that oblige the Muslim servant to pray in congregation, and whoever ponders in the Qur'aan and Sunnah will find more and more. Each piece of the preceding evidence is enough on its own to prove that salaat al-jamaa'ah is obligatory. We also remind our brothers that the Muslim servant is not allowed to reject anything from Allah or his Messenger just because a certain scholar ruled differently. Evidence is an argument against all people. Imaam's that have concluded differently are expected to have a valid excuse¹ because even they cannot contradict clear evidence from the Qur'aan and Sunnah. Their teachings that people must follow the Qur'aan and Sunnah are well known, and they, may Allah have mercy upon them, did not become imaam's except by strong adherence to the Qur'aan and Sunnah. Know this because it is beneficial to you . . .

Of Allah's bounty upon us with regards to this issue is that the best of people, the companions of the Messenger, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, have had 'ijmaa' (consensus) about it. There are no narrations passed down from any one of them giving leave not to pray in congregation. And the following is what has been confirmed of them:

1 - Ibn Mas'ood said: "And I have seen us, where not one of us would stay behind except for a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known". (5th evidence)

2 - Ibn Mas'ood, Abu Musaa Al-Ash'ari, 'Ali bin Abi Taalib, Abu Hurayrah, 'A'ishah and Ibn Abbaas have stated: "Whoever hears the call to salaat and does not answer it, there is no² salaat for him unless he has a [valid] excuse". (3rd evidence)

Ibn Al-Qayyim said after he presented the statements of the companions: "These are statements of the companions as you find them, authentic and well known, and there is not one known statement from any of the companions which contradicts this. Each of these pieces of evidence is enough all by itself, so how about when they all enforce one another. Verily in Allah is our success".

These are the statements of the people of knowledge:

1 - Al-Baghawi wrote in Sharh As-Sunnah (3/349): "More than one of the companions were of the opinion that whoever hears the call and does not answer, then there is no salaat for him".

2 - 'Ataa' bin Rabaah said: "There is no excuse for anyone created by Allah in a city or country side not to attend if he hears the call to prayer".

3 - Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "If his mother forbids him from praying 'Ishaa' in congregation, out of pity, he should not obey her."

4 - Al-Awzaa'i said: "There is no obedience to the father in leaving the Friday prayer, or the daily congregational prayers, regardless of whether one heard the call to prayer or not".³

5 - Amongst those that have said that it is obligatory, as well, are Ibn Khuzayma, Ash-Shaafi'i, Al-Bukhaari, Ibn Hibbaan, Daawood, Ahl Adh-Dhaahir, Al-Hanaabila, Ishaaq, most of Ahl Al-Hadeeth, and some of the companions of Ash-Shaafi'i.

You now know, may Allah have mercy upon you, the preceding evidence concerning the obligatory status of salaat al-jamaa'ah, and the statements of those that conclude it to be obligatory from amongst As-Salaf As-Saalih (our pious predecessors) of our 'Ummah (community of believers).

Now what remains for you to know is that whoever prays alone, then his prayer is correct; however, he has the ithm (sin) of leaving the jamaa'ah (congregation). As for the acceptance, or rejection, this is up to The Creator, and no one can say that the prayer of Zaid⁴ is accepted while the prayer of Obaid is not. Let us now turn to show some of the evidence of those that claim that it is Sunnah (meaning optional here) and not fard (obligatory).

EVIDENCE OF THOSE SAYING IT IS SUNNAH AND A DISCUSSION OF THAT EVIDENCE

1 - Ibn 'Umar said that the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Prayer in congregation is 27 grades in excess of one's prayer alone".

2 - Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "A man's prayer in congregation surpasses his prayer at home or in his business by 27 grades."

3 - "If you (speaking to two) have prayed during your journey and reached a mosque congregation then pray with them, it will be a naafila (over the obligatory voluntary prayer) for you." Ahmad and Tirmithi.

4 - Abi Musaa said that the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "The one with the greatest reward in the salaat is the one who has to walk the furthest to reach it, then the next furthest, and the one that waits for the prayer with the imaam reaps greater reward than one that prays it and then sleeps." Bukhaari and Muslim.

They said these are all ahaadeeth (plural for hadeeth) that prove that the one that prays alone does get his prayer counted. Therefore these ahaadeeth cause all the other ahaadeeth to carry an implication of a preferred rather than an obligatory nature. In addition to the above they apologized for not accepting the previous evidence as proof with excuses which we have already mentioned after each piece of evidence.

Your answer to what they have said is that it is not something we disagree about! We also acknowledge that a person can pray alone without a congregation because although prayer in congregation is obligatory it is not a condition for the acceptance of the prayer as we have already explained. Thus if a man were to pray alone, he would get the reward for salaat ; however, he would also get the sin for having missed the congregation. There is no contradiction here because the man receives ithm for leaving one obligation, and gets reward for doing another.

From this it becomes apparent to us that there is no contradiction being pointed out amongst the ahaadeeth because the most that these ahaadeeth imply is that one may pray alone; however, they do not give a person leave from praying in congregation. It is also well known that leaving an obligatory part of a deed does not make it invalid so long as it is not a condition for the acceptance of that deed.

These ahaadeeth would be a good response to those that say that prayer in the mosque is a condition for its acceptance, and that the prayer of a person by himself is not valid. As for those that say that it is obligatory to pray in congregation these ahaadeeth are not to be considered a response to them. Try to understand this because it can be beneficial to you. I ask Allah success for myself and for you.

FINAL WORD

Know my praying brother, may Allah make you aware of the truth, that Shaytaan has many ways to keep you from praying, and supplicating to your Lord. The beginning of the path is to neglect prayer in congregation, then to neglect tasbeeh (saying subhaanallaah, 'al-hamdulillaah, and allaahu-akbar each 33 times after each prayer along with other supplications), finally neglecting prayer altogether as we have seen.

So how can you allow yourself to lose the reward of 27 grades, and sufficing with one grade only. Have you reached a state that you no longer need hasanaat (merits) from Allah? There will be a great market for hasanaat tomorrow (meaning in the future) with the Lord of the Worlds.

So reflect upon this, and think about it, and do not allow the many that Shaytaan has overcome to a point that they do not get up to salaat except lethargically, do not let them sway you. Beware of letting the Shaytaan pull you to his row. Also know that sakinah (inner peace and tranquility) is not observed at home. "And verily the ones that populate the Mosques of Allah are those that have faith in Allah, and the Final Day". Are you not one of them? Did you know that in a Bukhaari hadeeth it is stated that each time one goes to the mosque or returns from the mosque Allah prepares something special for him in Jannah (Paradise)? So are you without need for this?

In this there is clarification for those who have been caused to be successful in their search for good, and have been guided to it. And the last of our supplications is that all praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds..

FOOTNOTES

1. Not having been reached by the necessary evidence is an example.

2. Because of the supporting evidence, which is to come later, this hadeeth is understood as: "Whoever hears the call to salaat and does not answer it, there is no [complete] salaat for him unless he has a [valid] excuse".

3. What appears most correct to me is that if his inability to hear the call is due to the distance of the mosque then he is not obliged to attend.

4. Zeid and Obeid are arbitrary names used here with the meaning of "one person, but not the other".