Why did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not do what he intended in his saying: “I intended to order firewood to be gathered, and it would be gathered, then I would order the prayer, and the call would be made for it,

The Shaykh: And on this occasion, many people ask when they hear this hadith: What does it mean that the Messenger intended to burn the houses of those who lagged behind but then did not do it? Because the hadith says this: meaning on his behalf - (peace be upon him) - to the end of the hadith. So the Messenger - (peace be upon him) - intended it but did not do it. Why did he not do it? The answer is very clear: because the houses in which those who lagged behind in congregational prayer are located do not contain only them; they have their women, their offspring, and their children, and so on. And it is known that women, as he - (peace be upon him) - said: ; meaning that it is better for a woman to pray in her house than in the mosque, and the opposite is the case for men, where it is better for a man to pray in the mosque than in his house. This is regarding adult women; their houses are better for them and more appropriate. As for the offspring, whether male or female, prayer is not obligatory upon them in the first place, and consequently, attending the congregation in the mosques is not obligatory upon them. So if the Prophet - (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) - had carried out that severe threat, which is burning the houses of those who lagged behind in congregational prayer, the punishment would have struck those who do not deserve it. And this contradicts the Qur'anic text which says: This is the reason the Messenger - (peace be upon him) - did not carry out his threat to burn the houses of those who lagged behind in prayer, meaning congregational prayer in the mosque. The point is that this hadith is clear evidence for the majority of scholars who considered it disliked to establish a second or third congregation.