Does your statement that one is excused for missing the congregation mean that it is better not to go to the congregation?

The questioner : How do you mean that one is excused for leaving the prayer if he is in the presence of food? Do I understand from this that if he prays, it is permissible, or is that not the case? It is not obligatory for him not to pray.

The Shaykh : Yes, the statement that one is excused does not mean that it is better not to do it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying while one is struggling to relieve oneself or in the presence of food. The scholars differed on whether his prayer is valid if he does so.
Some of them said that it is valid even while struggling to relieve oneself or while having a strong desire for food, because the prohibition here is so that he may be humble in his prayer and his heart may be present in his prayer. This must be the case, but not to perfection. The correct view is that if it leads to the complete absence of the heart's presence and the person's distraction, especially in struggling to relieve oneself, such that he finds himself straining or holding it in, then we may say that the prayer is not valid, as is the position of the Zahiri school. However, if he is struggling but is able to perform the prayer with its obligatory acts and pillars, then we say that the prayer here is disliked but it does not harm.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, if Allah wills. The hadith "No prayer," but...

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, yes. The hadith says "No prayer," but if we know that the cause is the loss of humility and the man will have some humility with him, then it is not permissible to neglect the obedience. But if he loses humility completely and becomes unaware of what he is saying or what he is doing due to the intensity of the struggle, then the view that the prayer is not valid applies here. Yes.