The Importance of Maintaining Congregational Prayer
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The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
A questioner says: I hope the Honorable Shaykh will direct a word regarding the importance of praying with the Muslim community, and the good consequences that follow from maintaining the prayer, because we see that some people, especially in the Fajr prayer, are late. May you be rewarded?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The prayer is the second pillar of the pillars of Islam after the two testimonies, and it is the pillar of Islam. Islam does not stand except upon the prayer, just as a tent does not stand except upon a pole. The prayer is the first thing for which the servant will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection from his deeds. If it is accepted, the rest of his deeds will be accepted, and if it is rejected, the rest of his deeds will be rejected. It is obligatory for the Muslim to care for it, to perform it as Allah commanded, not as his soul desires, but as Allah commanded. And Allah commanded the establishment of the prayer at its appointed times. He, the Exalted, said:[An-Nisa 4:103] meaning it is obligatory at specific times. And He commanded that it be prayed in congregation. He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Baqarah 2:43]. And congregational prayer is obligatory in the mosques [An-Nur 24:36-37]. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray in congregation for his Companions, and he used to check on those who lagged behind, and he said: Sunan Ibn Majah 797Sahih (Darussalam).
The Companions used to maintain congregational prayer to the extent that they would bring the sick and the exhausted person between two men to stand him up in the row. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:Riyad as-Salihin 1069 He is brought, supported between two men, until he is stood up in the row, and this report is in the authentic collections.
Those who lag behind in congregational prayer are among those about whom Allah said:[Maryam 19:59]. This does not mean that they abandoned it, meaning they left it entirely, but rather they wasted its time, so they did not pray it at its time, and they also wasted its performance in congregation, so He called them those who waste the prayer. And even if they pray, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: [Al-Ma'un 107:4-5], so He called them those who pray, but they are heedless of it, meaning that they delay it from its time, and they do not pray it in congregation, so He called them those who are heedless of it and those who waste it, and He threatened them with wail, which is the punishment, or a valley in Hellfire. So the matter is not a light one, and the Muslim does not pray whenever he wants or wherever he wants according to his own whim, but rather he performs it as Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, commanded it, in the mosques, in congregation, at its appointed times, and he maintains it. He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Baqarah 2:238] Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
A questioner says: I hope the Honorable Shaykh will direct a word regarding the importance of praying with the Muslim community, and the good consequences that follow from maintaining the prayer, because we see that some people, especially in the Fajr prayer, are late. May you be rewarded?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The prayer is the second pillar of the pillars of Islam after the two testimonies, and it is the pillar of Islam. Islam does not stand except upon the prayer, just as a tent does not stand except upon a pole. The prayer is the first thing for which the servant will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection from his deeds. If it is accepted, the rest of his deeds will be accepted, and if it is rejected, the rest of his deeds will be rejected. It is obligatory for the Muslim to care for it, to perform it as Allah commanded, not as his soul desires, but as Allah commanded. And Allah commanded the establishment of the prayer at its appointed times. He, the Exalted, said:
Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times.
إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَّوْقُوتًاand bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].
وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَin mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them 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
فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِThe 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 الصلاة على المنافقين صلاة العشاء وصلاة الفجر، ولو يعلمون ما فيهما لأتوهما ولو حبواThe Companions used to maintain congregational prayer to the extent that they would bring the sick and the exhausted person between two men to stand him up in the row. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
Allah has expounded to your Prophet (ﷺ) the ways of right guidance, and these (the prayers) are part of the right guidance. If you have to 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 (ﷺ), and the departure from the Sunnah of your Prophet (ﷺ) 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
إن الله شرع لنبيكم سنن الهدى، وإنهن من سنن الهدى، ولو أنكم صليتم في بيوتكم كما يصلي هذا المتخلف في بيته لتركتم سنة نبيكم، ولو تركتم سنة نبيكم لضللتم، ولقد رأيتنا وما يتخلف عنها إلا منافق معلوم النفاق، ولقد كان الرجلThose who lag behind in congregational prayer are among those about whom Allah said:
But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires
فَخَلَفَ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَاتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوَاتِ(4) So woe to those who pray (5) [But] who are heedless of their prayer -
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَMaintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.
حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَThe presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/285 — archive.org (0:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.