Clarification of the ruling on repeating the congregational prayer in the same mosque.

The Shaykh : It is reported in "Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah," narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), that he said: "When the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque and found that the imam had already prayed, they prayed individually." The Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) referred to this narration; he elaborated on this issue in a manner that we hardly find in any other book by the early scholars. He said in the first volume of his book "al-Umm": "If a group enters the mosque and finds that the imam has already prayed, they should pray individually. If they pray in congregation, their prayer is valid, but I dislike it; because it was not the practice of the Salaf. They were capable of gathering again, but they did not do so; because they disliked gathering in a mosque twice." This general report from al-Hasan al-Basri regarding the noble Companions, that they did not repeat the congregational prayer in the mosque, gives us a picture of the life they lived in their mosques regarding congregational prayer. It shows that they were keen to maintain the first congregation. If they missed it for some excuse, let alone without an excuse, they prayed individually.
This is what is indicated by the hadiths attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), though with some degree of deduction and reflection. Among them is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), which al-Bukhari and Muslim included in their "Sahih"s. He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning the 'Isha' prayer.
In this hadith, there is a clear indication of the prohibition of lagging behind the congregational prayer; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn the houses of those who lagged behind it. This is clear, and we have no further discussion on it. The discussion is in what we are currently addressing; namely, the repetition of the congregation. So what is the relationship between this hadith and the non-prescription of repeating the congregation?
Let us imagine the actual situation today in many mosques of the Muslims, with the repetition and multiplication of congregations. Which congregation would this explicit threat in this hadith fall upon, if we assume there are many congregations? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: ; so if the Messenger (peace be upon him) actually carried out the burning, and went against those congregations in their homes and intended to burn them, what would this be, O Messenger of Allah? You are delaying the congregational prayer. No, O Messenger of Allah, we are praying with the second congregation, with the third congregation, with the fiftieth congregation. Would the argument of the Messenger at that time be valid against these delayers, or is the matter the opposite?
If we observe this, we understand that this Prophetic argument is not valid against those who lag behind the congregational prayer unless we keep in mind that truth which al-Hasan al-Basri informed us of first, and then Imam al-Shafi'i supported in his previous statement just now. Otherwise, the argument of the Messenger would be invalidated—and may that be far from it!—by someone saying: O Messenger of Allah, if we missed the prayer with you, we pray—for example—with Mu'adh in his mosque, we pray with Abu, we pray with so-and-so, assuming they were multiplying the congregation in the mosque as is the case today in large and small mosques. Or it can be said that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says to them: It is true that there are many congregations, but I am concerned with the first congregation among all the congregations. This is possible for someone to say as well. And whether it is the first possibility or the second, the argument stands that when a Muslim hears the call of Allah saying: "Hayya 'ala al-salah, Hayya 'ala al-falah," it means the first congregation; because the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) intended to burn the houses of those who lagged behind it.
So, when we hear the hadiths that clarify that the congregational prayer is twenty-seven degrees better than the prayer of an individual, we should not understand the word “congregation” in a way that implies generality and comprehensiveness. Or, more precisely, we should understand that the “al” in “congregation” is for definiteness (the known), not for generality and comprehensiveness. So we say: the congregational prayer is the first congregation, with the previous condition, that it does not encroach upon the regular congregation. So the congregational prayer is the first congregation; the “al” here is not for generality and comprehensiveness, but for definiteness (the known).
This is evidence from the perspective of reality that shows us the impact of a wrong opinion on its holder. When the permissibility of the second congregation and those after it became established in the opinion of many people, it turned them away from caring that the prayer be performed with the first congregation. On the other hand, when such an error did not become established in their minds regarding the Friday prayer, they did not have this wrong impact, and all of them pray the Friday prayer at its time. This is from the perspective of reality.