Answer to the statement of those who permit a second congregation in the same mosque, namely that there was no second congregation in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)

The Shaykh : Well, there is a doubt that many people cling to in opposing this legal rule. The legal rule is that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), two congregations were not established, neither in his mosque nor in any other mosque, at any of the five prayer times. This is narrated in some of the books of the Sunnah, and it was preserved for us by one of the four Imams of jurisprudence, namely Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him). As for the Sunnah, it came in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah from the hadith of al-Hasan al-Basri, who said: I said: Imam al-Shafi'i preserved this text for us. He mentioned it in his famous book, known as Kitab al-Umm, saying: "If a group enters the mosque and finds that the Imam has already prayed, they should pray individually. 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 for them because it was not the practice of the Salaf." Then he said: "And we have preserved that a group of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) missed the prayer with the congregation, so they prayed individually. They were able to gather again, but they did not do so because they disliked gathering in the mosque twice." This is the statement of Imam al-Shafi'i, a jurist of the highest degree of jurisprudence in his expression. If the second congregation in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) was not known, then it falls under the previous rule, and it is not covered by his statement (peace be upon him): We return to your hadith. Your hadith has absolutely no relation to our topic, and the explanation will follow. In Sunan Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and others, there is a hadith from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with them both) I hope you pay attention: the hadith says he prayed with him, not he prayed for him. I think there is a clear difference between the hadith and what might be misunderstood. So he stood up and prayed with him. Who is the Imam in this second prayer that we want to name now?

The questioner : The one who entered.

The Shaykh: Huh?

The questioner : The one who entered.

The Shaykh : The one who entered. So, who made this prayer a congregation: the one who entered, or the one who gave charity to him? The one who gave charity to him, because he is the one who prayed with him and behind him, so he gave charity to him. This is the hadith. Now we ask: What is the relation of this hadith to the second congregation, the third, and the fourth? I remember clearly when I was in Damascus in the Levant, I would enter the largest mosque in Syria, and perhaps in many Arab countries, the Umayyad Mosque. I would enter after the 'Asr prayer and hear the adhan of the mu'adhdhin for Maghrib, and there was a congregation standing praying the 'Asr prayer. Yes, imagine how many congregations were established after the first one. The point is that this hadith has absolutely no relation to the second congregation, let alone the third and fourth. Why? Because the issue is a second congregation similar to the first in that the Imam is obligated and the followers are also obligated. This is a congregation of obligatory prayer. Did this occur in the time of the Messenger? We knew previously from the narration of Ibn Abi Shaybah and Imam al-Shafi'i that they were able to gather again, but they did not do so because they disliked gathering in the mosque twice. So, such a congregation did not occur. Do we have the hadith of Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi? We say yes, this hadith is taken to mean that if a man has prayed with the prescribed congregation and a man enters wanting to pray, he should volunteer for him, be generous to him, and give charity to him by praying behind him. So, there is evidence in this hadith that it is permissible for one who has prayed the obligatory prayer to repeat it behind one who is praying the obligatory prayer. For him, it is obligatory, and for the one praying behind him, it is voluntary. Our research is in establishing an obligatory prayer with an Imam and followers. This hadith contains nothing of that. And what confirms this for you, look now at this reality