The Ruling on Congregational Prayer for Men
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Question:
This questioner sent a question from Abha. She says: Honorable Shaykh (may Allah preserve him), the mosque is not far from our house, and yet my father and my brother rarely pray in it, meaning in the mosque. I constantly urge them to pray in the mosque and explain to them the virtues and the reward associated with it, but they are annoyed with me. They say to me, "So-and-so and so-and-so pray at home, so why do you make a big deal out of this for us?" My father also says, "I cannot walk; my feet hurt," even though he goes to the nearby grocery store and to his distant neighbors. Also, regarding the car, he does not know how to drive. I ask the Shaykh to give advice through this program. May Allah reward you.
Answer:
Convey to them, and to other Muslims, that congregational prayer is an individual obligation for men. It is not permissible for a man to pray in his home while he hears the call to prayer, except if he has an excuse. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 797Sahih (Darussalam) And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Sahih Muslim 654b I have seen us, and none would lag behind it except a known hypocrite, and indeed a man would be brought, supported between two men, until he was placed in the row. So congregational prayer is obligatory and is not waived except for those with an excuse who cannot attend due to fear or illness. People are not role models; the one who abandons congregational prayer is not a role model. The role model is in the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and in his Sunnah, whether verbal, practical, or by approval. All of this is established in congregational prayer, in his words, actions, and approval (peace and blessings be upon him). So there is no excuse for one who prays in his home and abandons congregational prayer while he is able to do so.
And we are ruined by the lazy and those in whom there is hypocrisy. This does not exempt him from the anger of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn the houses of those who lagged behind in prayer with fire. Yes.
This questioner sent a question from Abha. She says: Honorable Shaykh (may Allah preserve him), the mosque is not far from our house, and yet my father and my brother rarely pray in it, meaning in the mosque. I constantly urge them to pray in the mosque and explain to them the virtues and the reward associated with it, but they are annoyed with me. They say to me, "So-and-so and so-and-so pray at home, so why do you make a big deal out of this for us?" My father also says, "I cannot walk; my feet hurt," even though he goes to the nearby grocery store and to his distant neighbors. Also, regarding the car, he does not know how to drive. I ask the Shaykh to give advice through this program. May Allah reward you.
Answer:
Convey to them, and to other Muslims, that congregational prayer is an individual obligation for men. It is not permissible for a man to pray in his home while he hears the call to prayer, except if he has an excuse. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not respond, he has no prayer, except if he has an excuse. It was said to the narrator, "What is the excuse?" He said, "Fear or illness."
من سمع النداء فلم يجب فلا صلاة له إلا من عذر، قيل للراوي وما العذر؟ قال خوف أو مرض،The most burdensome prayers for the hypocrites are the 'Isha' prayer and the Fajr prayer. If only they knew what (reward) there is in them, they would come to them even if they had to crawl.
أثقل الصلوات على المنافقين صلاة العشاء وصلاة الفجر، ولو يعلمون ما فيهما لأتوهما ولو حبوا.If you were to pray in your houses as this man why stays away (from the mosque) prays in his house, you would abandon the practice of your Prophet, and if you were to abandon the practice of your Prophet, you would go astray.
ولو أنكم صليتم في بيوتكم كما يصلي هذا المتخلف في بيته لتركتم سنة نبيكم ولو تركتم سنة نبيكم لضللتمAnd we are ruined by the lazy and those in whom there is hypocrisy. This does not exempt him from the anger of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn the houses of those who lagged behind in prayer with fire. Yes.
Source
تخلف الرجال عن صلاة الجماعة — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.