The Ruling on the Second Congregational Prayer in the Mosque
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says that some people claim it is not permissible for a man who missed the first congregation to pray with another congregation inside the mosque. They cite the hadith, "There are not two congregations in one mosque." What is the intended meaning of this? And what is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) here?
Answer:
This statement is incorrect; it is a false statement. If a person comes and has missed the congregational prayer, he prays it with another congregation. Either he goes to another mosque and prays with them, or if he comes with one or more people, they pray it as a congregation in the mosque where they missed the prayer. If one of those who prayed with the imam stands up to pray with him, that is good, so that he may obtain the congregation, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man entered who had missed the prayer: he said to his companions, "Who will give charity to this man by praying with him?" The prohibition against establishing two congregations in one mosque applies if this is intended, if they separate and say, "We are not praying with you; each of us will pray his own congregation." This is forbidden and not permissible; it is division and disagreement. However, if the prayer was missed, there is no harm in establishing it a second time in the mosque. What is prohibited is that they intend this from the beginning and say, "We will not pray together; rather, each will pray his own congregation alone," so they pray in separate groups in the mosque, with each group having its own imam. This is forbidden and not permissible, and this is the condemned and prohibited division.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says that some people claim it is not permissible for a man who missed the first congregation to pray with another congregation inside the mosque. They cite the hadith, "There are not two congregations in one mosque." What is the intended meaning of this? And what is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) here?
Answer:
This statement is incorrect; it is a false statement. If a person comes and has missed the congregational prayer, he prays it with another congregation. Either he goes to another mosque and prays with them, or if he comes with one or more people, they pray it as a congregation in the mosque where they missed the prayer. If one of those who prayed with the imam stands up to pray with him, that is good, so that he may obtain the congregation, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man entered who had missed the prayer: he said to his companions, "Who will give charity to this man by praying with him?" The prohibition against establishing two congregations in one mosque applies if this is intended, if they separate and say, "We are not praying with you; each of us will pray his own congregation." This is forbidden and not permissible; it is division and disagreement. However, if the prayer was missed, there is no harm in establishing it a second time in the mosque. What is prohibited is that they intend this from the beginning and say, "We will not pray together; rather, each will pray his own congregation alone," so they pray in separate groups in the mosque, with each group having its own imam. This is forbidden and not permissible, and this is the condemned and prohibited division.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 19 — archive.org (28:17)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.