What is the ruling on the second congregation in the mosque?

The questioner : If I do not catch the first congregation and a second one is established, should I pray with them or pray alone?

The Shaykh : One does not pray in a second congregation. Rather, he is in one of two good options: either he prays alone in the mosque, or he goes to his home or another place where he can pray in congregation with the people of that area, and that is better. Otherwise, he prays alone in the mosque. This is because the matter was thus in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and in the time of the righteous predecessors. Consequently, the statements of the Imams have continued to explicitly state the dislike of establishing a second congregation in a mosque that has a regular imam and a regular mu'adhdhin. We have spoken about this in detail many times.