The Seventh Chapter: On Congregational Prayer
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Learn, dear faithful
Muslim, that Islam is the religion of Oneness and unity. As Islam is not
complete without the Oneness [of Allah], the faith as well is not complete
without unity and togetherness. Hence, all pillars of Islam call for unity and
coherence, and warn from dispute and division. Moreover, Islam
considers the disunity inconsistent with the obedience to Allah. For instance,
fasting, pilgrimage and due charity are all collective rituals. Among these
great rituals is the congregational prayer. It is indeed among the signs of
guidance which were legalized by the Book, Sunnah and Consensus... |
Section
On the Legitimacy and
Virtue of the Congregational Prayer
The
textual evidence, taken from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet
(PBUH), concerning the legality and virtues of the congregational prayer are
numerous. Of them is the following:
1- The Exalted in His Book says:
﴿وَإِذَا كُنتَ فِيهِمْ فَأَقَمْتَ لَهُمُ
الصَّلَاةَ..﴾ النساء: 102
‘And
when you are among them and lead them in prayer…’ (Q, the Women. 4:102).
Meaning, you
lead them in congregational prayer1.
2- The Prophet (PBUH) in his Sunnah states:
‘Praying in congregation is twenty-seven times better than praying alone’, and he (PBUH) also says: ‘One who performs the Night
prayer in congregation will be as if he has performed prayer for half of the
night. And one who performs the Dawn prayer in congregation will be as if he
has performed Prayer for the whole night’.
3- With regard to Ijma’ (the Consensus of
Muslim scholars), all Muslims, generation after generation, have agreed on the general
legality of congregational prayer.
Section
On the Legal Ruling of the
Congregational Prayer
The
congregation for the five daily prayers and Friday prayer is fard ’ayn
(individual obligation2). Therefore, it is mandatory upon every
legally responsible/accountable person (mukallaf), if he is capable, to
attend the congregation. This is the opinion adopted and upheld by the two
Shaykhs (May Allah maintain them). Hence, the other opinion is weak. In fact,
abandoning the congregational prayer is a sign of hypocrisy and is the habit of
hypocrites (May Allah save us and you from hypocrisy and hypocrites)…
Dear
student, I will briefly mention some of the evidence demonstrating the
obligation to attend the five prayers in congregation, and leave the rest of
them to the detailed books of Islamic Jurisprudence.
1- The Almighty’s saying:
﴿وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ ﴾ البقرة: 43
‘And bow
with those who bow’ (Q, the Cow. 2:43).
This command
can only be implemented in congregation.
2- The Messenger’s (PBUH) saying: ‘I sometimes thought of
giving orders for firewood to be collected, then for proclaiming the adhan
for prayer. Then I would appoint an Imam to lead prayer, and then go to the
houses of those who do not come to perform congregational prayer, and set fire
to their houses’. If the prayer had been only fard kifayah
(community/collective obligation3), the Prophet (PBUH) and those who
prayed with him would have been sufficient to establish the congregational
prayer, and there would have been no need for such harsh punishment.
3- What was ascribed authentically to ’Abdullah b. Mas’ud
(May Allah be pleased with him) who said: ‘He who likes to meet Allah tomorrow
(i.e. on the Day of Requital) as a Muslim, should take care and observe the Salat
when the Adhan is announced for them. Allah has expounded to your Prophet
(PBUH) the ways of right guidance, and these (the prayers) are part of the
right guidance. If you have to
3-perform Salat in your houses, as this man who
stays away (from the mosque) and performs Salat in his house, you will
abandon the Sunnah (practice) of your Prophet (PBUH), and the departure from
the Sunnah of your Prophet (PBUH) will lead you astray. I have seen the time when
no one stayed behind except a well-known hypocrite. I also saw that a man was
brought swaying (on account of weakness) between two men till he was set up in
a row (in the mosque)’.
The abovementioned
proofs are self-evident and, thus,
require no commentary or any further clarification.
Section on the Excuses to
Leave the Congregation
As it
has been established for you (May Allah save you from any evil) that the
congregational prayer is an individual obligation, be informed that there are
legitimate excuses allowing one to leave the prayer in congregation. Amongst
these legal excuses are what follows:
1- Fear and illness: based on the Prophet’s (PBUH) saying and practice.
His verbal Sunnah is what was narrated on the authority of ibn ‘Abbas who
ascribed to the Prophet (PBUH) the following: ‘The Prophet (PBUH) was asked what
an excuse consisted of, and he replied that it was fear or illness’. As for the
Prophet’s (PBUH) practice, the Messenger did not attend the congregational
prayer in the period during which he was very sick, which continued until his
death. At the time, the Prophet (PBUH) commanded Abu Bakr to lead people in
payer, despite his (PBUH) house being adjacent to the Noble Mosque.
2- Severe winds, rain or cold: for the report of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri that when it was a cold, rainy night, the
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to command the Mu’adhdhin to say: ‘Pray
in your dwellings’.
3- Eating food with unpleasant
smell: Likewise, anyone who is
suffering from the incontinence of wind, it is recommended for them to stay
away from the mosque. This latter one is much worse on his fellow prayers
and angels. This ruling is derived from the Prophet’s (PBUH) prohibition: ‘He
who has eaten onion or garlic should not approach our mosque, because the
angels are also offended by the strong smells that offend the children of Adam’.
4- Being too hungry in the
presence of food: as praying in
this case distracts one’s attention while praying. The Messenger (PBUH) is
authentically reported to have said:
‘If the Iqamah for (’Isha’) prayer is proclaimed and supper is
served, take your supper first, lest you might be distracted by hunger and be
preoccupied from prayer and, therefore,
shorten it’. Furthermore, it should be taken into account that he is allowed to
eat till his hunger is satisfied, not to go beyond this limit; resulting in
eating and drinking while people are praying in their mosques.
5-
Struggling with the two akhbathayn (urine and stool): for the Prophetic
prohibition from praying while the need [to relieve oneself] is too dire.
Section on the Prayers
Offered in Congregation
The congregational
prayer is only obligatory on the five daily prayers and Friday’s prayer. Apart
from these, praying in congregation is optional, such as the Funeral prayer,
the two ‘Ids prayer, the Eclipse prayer, Tarawih prayer and the
Rain-Seeking prayer. Allah knows best.
Section on Repeating the
Congregation
Learn
(May Allah guide me and you to the means of knowledge) that people are
disallowed to establish a congregational prayer before the first regular/main congregation.
Also, they are not allowed to deliberately establish a congregation after the
first congregation without legitimate excuse. The reason being that, the
congregational prayer is legislated to gather and unite people, and doing otherwise
is a proof of division and a sign of dispute.
The
congregation may be legally conducted after the first main one in the case of
some people coming late due to an excuse, such as sleep, as long as this does
not lead to neglecting the prayer, or being lazy to attend the prayer in its
first regular congregation. The evidence for this is a sound hadith speaks of a
man who entered the Prophet’s (PBUH) Mosque after the Prophet (PBUH) had
finished leading his Companions in congregation. As a result, Allah’s Messenger
(PBUH) asked: ‘Is there any man who may do good [voluntary prayer] with this (man)
and pray along with him’.
This
ruling applies to all obligatory prayers except the Dawn and Afternoon prayers,
as there is no voluntary prayer after any of these two, as established authentically
in the sound hadith.
Additionally,
the former hadith signifies that congregations
are conducted legally by two persons onwards.
Moreover,
based on the opinion adopted and held by the two Shaykhs (May Allah save them),
a congregation is repeated when there is a reason for this repetition, as there
is no proof to prevent repeating the same prayer if it is broken. Thus, Muslims
have to repeat their prayer in congregation if the original one is proved to be
broken.
By
agreement, establishing two congregational prayers at the same time and place
is prohibited. However, if one of the two prayers is different from the other,
the second group must wait till the first group finishes their congregational
prayer. if praying at the same time is necessary, the second group must go to a
remote place in the mosque to pray, wherein they will not be heard by the first
congregation.
Warning: Whoever
establishes a congregational prayer knowing that there is another
congregation nearby praying at the same time and place (at the same
mosque), the latter congregation is invalid, even if the two prayers are
different. Therefore, they must repeat their prayer. Hence, let
this be noted by all.
Juristic Issue
Whoever
enters the mosque while the first congregation (the main/regular) is being
established must join this congregation, even if he already previously offered
that prayer. If this is the case, he intends the latter to be a voluntary
prayer. All five daily prayers, including the Dawn and Afternoon prayers, are
equal in this regard, because joining the first congregation for those who
happen to be in this mosque is mandatory. Such a firm ruling is taken from the
authentic Prophetic tradition in which
the Prophet (PBUH) said to the man who did not join
them in prayer: “What kept you from praying with people? Are you not a Muslim
man?” He said: “Yes, but I had already prayed with my family.” The Messenger of
Allah (PBUH) replied to him: “When you come you should pray with the people
even if you have already prayed with your family”.
However, if the
congregation is not the first, e.g. it is a second or third one, the comer is
given an option whether he joins it or not, except if it is after the Dawn or
Afternoon prayers. If it is one of these two prayers, the comer should not
join. This ruling is because following these two there is no optional prayers
after them. Allah knows best.
Section on the Woman’s
Prayer in Congregation
Get to
know, O servant of Allah, that the woman’s prayer in her house yard is better than
prayer in her neighborhood mosque. And her prayer inside her own room is better
than prayer in her house yard. However, the woman can go to the mosques to pray
in congregation for the five obligatory prayers and on Friday, providing that
she leaves her house with full decency, away from that which might attract men’s
attention, such as any apparent adornment. On the authority of
’A’ishah (May Allah be pleased with her) who said: ‘If the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had seen what women
do now, he would have forbidden them from going into the mosques, just as the women
of the Bani Isra’il were forbidden’.
________________________________
1 - The verse
signifies clearly the obligation of the congregational prayer upon every
individual, as will be discussed soon, Allah willing.
2 - Fard ‘Ayn: is an act that has to be
done by every Muslim, such as praying five times a day.
Saleh. Dictionary of Islamic Words and Expressions.
p.55.
3
- Ford Kifayah: is something that the whole community is
responsible for. If some members do it, that would suffice the whole.
If none does it, then the whole community is at fault and has sinned. An
example is funeral Prayer.
Saleh. Dictionary of Islamic Words and Expressions.
p.55.
Reference:
The Reliable Jurisprudence of Prayer, al-Mu’tamad fi
Fiqh as-Salah, by al-Mu’tasim al’Ma’wali, pg: 289-297.
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