How to reconcile the prohibition of establishing a second congregation with what is reported from him (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said to the Companion

The questioner : In a previous session of ours, I spoke and said: It is not befitting to establish a second congregation after the first congregation.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : Okay; how do we reconcile this with the fact that when a man entered the mosque, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to one of the Companions: ? Does this mean that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) approved of the second congregation?

The Shaykh : No, this is a common misconception. When we say “the second congregation,” we obviously mean the obligatory prayer—the congregation for the obligatory prayer. The answer to this question is actually long, and I have spoken about it more than once, so I do not want to lengthen it as time is short. But I will say a brief word: One must reflect on this second congregation mentioned in his (peace be upon him) saying: This is a test question—pay attention—a test question; is this congregation for the obligatory prayer or for a voluntary prayer? Do not speak; whoever finds a valid answer to this question in himself, let him raise his hand.

Another questioner : Repeat the question.

The Shaykh : Okay; I say: When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and he prayed with him, a second congregation was established. This second congregation mentioned in this hadith; the question: Is it a congregation for the obligatory prayer or a congregation for a voluntary prayer? Please.

The questioner : This second one is charity, so it is voluntary, not obligatory. He is performing a voluntary prayer...

The Shaykh : Did you hear the answer? The answer is that this is a congregation for a voluntary prayer, not a congregation for the obligatory prayer; is there any disagreement? Please.

Another questioner : For the one giving charity, it is voluntary, and for the one receiving the charity, it is obligatory.

The Shaykh : The issue is not relative; is this congregation for the obligatory prayer or for a voluntary prayer? This congregation is ambiguous, it is ambiguous and needs clarification. Listen; we are now developing the question: Who was the imam in this prayer, the one performing the voluntary prayer or the one performing the obligatory prayer? Whoever knows, raise his hand. Please.

The questioner : The one performing the obligatory prayer.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : The one performing the obligatory prayer.

The Shaykh : Was he the imam?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Is there any disagreement?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I am not saying speak, is there any disagreement? Raise his hand. Did you hear the answer; he said: The one performing the obligatory prayer is the imam, do you agree?

The questioner : ... the one performing the voluntary prayer.

The Shaykh : Please, yes?

The questioner : The one performing the voluntary prayer is the imam.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is the correct answer. So reflect now on the Arabic expression spoken by the Arab Prophet, what did he say to his Companions? Did he say to them: “Is there no man who would give charity to this man by praying with him” or “by praying for him”? He said “praying with him,” so he prayed as the imam, and he prayed behind him as the follower, so this is a congregation for a voluntary prayer, not a congregation for the obligatory prayer, and the discussion is about the congregation for the obligatory prayer. This is the first answer.
The other answer: Was this man who entered the mosque excused or not excused—also? What do you imagine? Was this one who missed the Messenger’s congregation excused or not excused?

The questioner : He was excused.

The Shaykh : He was excused, okay; if we want to generalize the statement; we say: This hadith indicates repeating the congregation in the same mosque. These congregations that will be held after the first congregation are for the excused or the not excused? If we want to stop at the indication of the hadith, we must imagine that this congregation is for the excused. Is that the reality today? The answer: No.
In summary: The scholars of jurisprudence used this hadith as evidence for a point that has absolutely no relation to this topic, which is that if a person prays the obligatory prayer, he may repeat it as a voluntary prayer with the intention of voluntary prayer. It is the same prayer but the intention differs, so it is permissible for him to repeat it even though it is authentically reported from the Messenger (peace be upon him) that he said: This man who prayed with that man prayed twice, he prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he prayed with him, so this man prayed twice; how to reconcile?
The answer: There is no prayer twice in a day with one intention, an obligatory prayer repeated as obligatory; this is not permissible, because the obligatory prayers in every day and night are five—as is well known—but repeating this prayer with the intention of voluntary prayer is permissible for this hadith and others; such as the hadith of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) prayer in the Musjid al-Khaif during the Farewell Pilgrimage; when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayed the Fajr prayer, when he finished the prayer he found two men far from the congregation, their situation indicated that they had not prayed with the congregation, so he said to them (peace be upon him): They said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: He said: O Messenger of Allah, we had prayed in our tents! So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Now I feel—and the truth is more worthy to be said—I feel that I was mistaken just now, so the one who prayed with the second man in the hadith: , he was following him, perhaps I was mistaken just now, so if this mistake is recorded, remove it from your minds, for the hadith is very explicit: , so who was the imam here? Who was the imam here? ...

The questioner : The one performing the obligatory prayer.

The Shaykh : Who was the imam? The one performing the obligatory prayer, good; so if this one performing the obligatory prayer prayed alone, he would have fulfilled his obligation individually, so who made his obligation a congregation? It is that one performing the voluntary prayer, this is what I wanted to reach just now but my mind was scattered, and my thought erred, and repentance to Allah is obligatory.
So when we know this, it becomes clear to us with complete clarity without any doubt; that this congregation is a congregation for a voluntary prayer, so it is not permissible to use it as evidence for the legitimacy of the congregation for the obligatory prayer. So if we want to revive this Sunnah; we pray the congregation in the mosque, so a man enters wanting to pray alone, so I follow him in order to make his obligation a voluntary congregation, this is how the Sunnah is, is there anything else?
Please proceed.