What is the ruling on congregational prayer for men?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He asks: Is congregational prayer obligatory for every man, and what is the ruling on the one who says that congregational prayer is not obligatory?
Answer:
The one who says that congregational prayer is not obligatory is speaking from his own opinion; this is a statement based on his own opinion. As for the words of Allah and His Messenger, they indicate that congregational prayer is obligatory. The practice of the Muslims indicates that congregational prayer is obligatory. They glorify Him therein, meaning in the mosques,[An-Nur 24:36-37] The one who does not fear this day abandons congregational prayer, but the one who fears this day maintains congregational prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded congregational prayer, described those who miss it as hypocrites, and threatened them with the warning that he would burn their houses with fire because of the severity of their crime.
As for the one who says that it is not obligatory, this is a statement from his own opinion that is not accepted.
He asks: Is congregational prayer obligatory for every man, and what is the ruling on the one who says that congregational prayer is not obligatory?
Answer:
The one who says that congregational prayer is not obligatory is speaking from his own opinion; this is a statement based on his own opinion. As for the words of Allah and His Messenger, they indicate that congregational prayer is obligatory. The practice of the Muslims indicates that congregational prayer is obligatory. They glorify Him therein, meaning in the mosques,
in the morning and the evenings (37) [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about -
بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُAs for the one who says that it is not obligatory, this is a statement from his own opinion that is not accepted.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم صلاة الجماعة للرجال؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.