The Shaykh’s response to those who cite the hadith: “Is there a man who would give charity to this man and pray with him?” as evidence for the permissibility of a second congregation in the mosque

The Shaykh : As for this hadith, it is one of the wonders of the common misconceptions among authors, writers, and jurists, and so on. Whenever the topic of the congregation is raised, this hadith comes up. I say to you, brothers, this hadith has no connection to the second congregation. To put it briefly, this is not a test but a sharpening of the minds. The hadith says: We were a group who entered the mosque, and the imam was saying, “Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.” So one of us stepped forward and led the group in prayer. Tell me, who is the one giving charity and who is the one receiving it?

The questioner : There is no...

The Shaykh : So the hadith has no connection to this issue. In my opinion, applying the hadith to this topic is an encroachment on the hadith.

The questioner : The congregation is a formal one, formal and not...

The Shaykh : It is a congregation, but a congregation with a specific status.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Let us hear now what the brother is saying?

The questioner : I say that those who entered the mosque were not a group. If a group had entered the mosque, and then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , we would know from this that it is necessary, meaning that one does not form a second congregation. But because only one person entered, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So there remains some argument for those who cite the hadith as well.

The Shaykh : No, no argument remains unless you can, and you cannot, say in this congregation who is the one giving charity and who is the one receiving it?

The questioner : Those who are entering are a group.

Another questioner : There is no one giving charity and no one receiving it.

Another questioner : O Shaykh, the result is the same.

The Shaykh : If he throws down his weapon, then it is your turn. Yes, do you have an answer?

The questioner : If they entered the mosque as a group... they pray.

The Shaykh : None of these people prayed; they did not catch the congregation. Do these people pray as a group or individually? You will say they pray as a group.

The questioner : Or individually.

The Shaykh : No, we are asking you now what is better for you.

The questioner : It is better that they pray as a group.

The Shaykh : That is it, so stay with me. I told you, you will say: they pray individually or as a group, but you prefer that they pray as a group.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, who is the one giving charity and who is the one receiving it, I asked.

The questioner : They are all assumed to be.

The Shaykh : They are all assumed to be. So the previous hadith has no connection to the topic.

The questioner : Yes, it has no connection to the topic of entering the congregation.

The Shaykh : It has no connection to this congregation.

The questioner : Yes, correct.

The Shaykh : Correct.

The questioner : Correct.

The Shaykh : You.

The questioner : The result is the same, because as I mentioned a moment ago, the... the Zahiris have... and we want to know why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to that man, “Give charity to this man?” To earn for him the reward of the congregation.

The Shaykh : Which congregation?

The questioner : That this man prays with this man.

The Shaykh : Which congregation? A question comes back to you: to catch the prayer of the congregation, which congregation? The obligatory one or the voluntary one?

The questioner : The obligatory one. He entered to pray, so he said: . He wants to earn for the one who entered...

The Shaykh : ... Do not count on me, I understand what you are saying, but the thing I did not understand is: does he catch the reward of the obligatory prayer or the voluntary one? In other words, is the congregation mentioned in the hadith a voluntary congregation or an obligatory one?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : With whom was the congregation established? Here the previous discussion comes in with him or by him. With whom was the congregation established, with the one assuming the obligation or the one performing the voluntary prayer?

The questioner : Is there not... in this...

The Shaykh : Your turn has come, your turn has come.

The questioner : With the one performing the voluntary prayer.

The Shaykh : So this is not an obligatory congregation. And from here the issue arises; it is not a formal issue. This is precisely the jurisprudence, because the previous understanding implies that this is an obligatory congregation and that this obligatory congregation has the reward of the obligatory prayer, and that is not the case. So if we leave the scenario that occurred in the hadith and which the hadith permitted, we move to the other scenario that we discussed with the brother just now. He said that this hadith does not apply to this, because he noticed the meaning that this is a different scenario from that one, because there is no one giving charity and no one receiving it. So if you had rested with your companion, it would have been easier for you, because there is nothing new in the topic in reality. Then we return to say: if this hadith indicated this indication, why did the Salaf turn away from repeating the congregation? Perhaps a person among the attendees will bring up to us the story of Anas ibn Malik. We say: the congregation that is the subject of the current discussion is, as it came first in the texts of the Hanafis, who said: “It is disliked to repeat the congregation in a mosque that has a regular imam and a regular mu’adhdhin.” And as it came in the clear and explanatory words of Imam al-Shafi’i, where he said in the fullness of his statement: “As for a mosque on the side of a road that has no imam and no congregation, I do not dislike repeating the congregation in it.” The reason is that these repeated congregations in a mosque on the side of a road do not result in splitting the first congregation, unlike what is the case today in mosques. And I say: look now, why is the mosque crowded on Friday with worshippers, while in the five daily prayers it fills one or two rows? I observe, of course, and although I am a person who sometimes neglects many matters, here I am not negligent. One of the strong reasons, if the expression is correct, for the exclusive use of the congregational mosques on Friday is the Muslims’ greater concern for Friday than for the congregation. But there is another reason, and it is—peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings—that the Muslims do not care about the prayer of the congregation as they care about the Friday prayer, even though the hadith draws attention to the obligation of caring for both congregations equally. So I think you remember with me two hadiths: the first hadith is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, which says: to the end of the hadith. This warning came in “Sahih Muslim” from the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud regarding those who leave the Friday prayer. So one of the reasons for the Muslims’ dispersal from the congregation is first, their laxity with it in general.
Second, their splitting into other congregations, and this is observed and cannot be denied. When we were in Damascus, we would enter the Umayyad Mosque for sightseeing, not for prayer, because I forbade myself from praying in it because of the grave in it that is sought other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We would find the congregation prayer established in the ‘Asr prayer, and the mu’adhdhin for Maghrib saying: “Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.” The ‘Asr prayer as a congregation means, first, officially, the Shafi’i imam prayed in his mihrab, then the Hanafi imam in his mihrab, then the Hanbali imam in his mihrab, then the Maliki imam in his mihrab, four official congregations. Then here a group, here a group, and a group until the Maghrib adhan. If the Muslims had been disciplined by the discipline of prayer and understood its jurisprudence, and if it had been established in their hearts that the congregation with that virtue is twenty-seven degrees, they would never have been dispersed like this in the prayer of the congregation. Rather, they would have been eager to perform it in the mosque with the first congregation. And if they missed it, there is no power and no... they would consider it a shortcoming. Now this feeling has died from their minds because a deviated idea about the Sunnah has been established in their minds, which is a second and third congregation, and so on, as Allah wills. And the example is me.

The questioner : O Shaykh, as we know, in the Haram people pray in four directions, we do not know, meaning...

Another questioner : Shaykh, there is something with the same question before we leave this.

The Shaykh : Meaning, keep your question.

The questioner : With your permission.