Continuation of the discussion on the reason why multiple congregations are not prescribed in a single mosque that has a regular imam.

The Shaykh : Perhaps I strayed quite a bit from the topic. I was speaking about the second congregation, and we said: if a Muslim believes in this second congregation, it becomes a cause that diverts him from caring about the first congregation, which is the one we were commanded to attend in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, as we explained to you earlier.
Therefore, the wisdom of the legislation requires closing the door to forming a second congregation after the first one; because legislating the permissibility of forming a second, third, and so on is a cause for diverting people from the first congregation. The greatest proof of this from our real life is that we find mosques, despite their vastness and spaciousness, to be packed with worshippers on Friday, even the outdoor section of the mosque called the courtyard, and in many mosques the roads are blocked. Why? Because it has become settled in the hearts of those who pray Friday that there is no second Friday prayer; because if they believed there was, they would be lax about the first congregation and say to themselves: if we miss the first Friday congregation, we will find a second imam and preacher, and so on and so forth. So when...
And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings.

The questioner : ... .

Eid Abbasi : You move forward a little, please — move forward a little, it is fine...
...

The Shaykh : I say: the wisdom of the legislation, for the reasons we mentioned earlier, requires closing the door to forming a second congregation for the congregational prayer, just as the Shari'ah also did for the Friday prayer. However, what happened is that opinions from some scholars were found that permit a second congregation for the congregational prayer, but not for Friday. Then some people adopted this idea when they found it suitable for their immersion in worldly affairs, so it became, over time, a common school of thought among the general Muslim population. You find the 'Asr prayer — and I do not say the Zuhr prayer — you find the 'Asr prayer being prayed in congregation in the Umayyad Mosque here, and perhaps also with you; the ailment and the disease are the same. And the Maghrib adhan is called, while here the congregational prayer is the 'Asr prayer being prayed, and the mu'adhdhin is calling the Maghrib adhan. Why? Because people rushed into their worldly affairs, and that led them to adopt some opinions that help them in this immersion in their worldly affairs.
I know this from my own experience; for I was, of course, like everyone else, no one is born a scholar, especially in the way of the Book and the Sunnah. So, like many students of knowledge, I studied fiqh according to the school of jurisprudence I grew up with. I studied the Hanafi school, and I found in it the permissibility of the second congregation in the opinions adopted today by many later scholars, contrary to the early imams, as we explained to you previously. So, while I was at work in my shop repairing watches, I would hear the mu'adhdhin saying: "Hayya 'ala al-salah, hayya 'ala al-falah," and I would be repairing a watch in my hand. I would say to myself: "Yes, until I finish it, and it probably won't take long with me." My mind would question my soul and say: "Okay, did you bear with me for a time that was a cause for wasting the prayer? Yes, we will find a second imam who will pray for us. Okay, did you not find anyone?" I would go back and say to myself: "This is a witness before Allah, it used to occur to me, but that left my heart — and praise be to Allah — after Allah guided me completely. So I would say: if I do not find an imam in the mosque, are you not satisfied with your own state? You are a student of knowledge, and you completed the recitation of the Qur'an with your father, and so on. So you lead the people in prayer as an imam. And I used to do this. The watch would be finished and the prayer would be finished, and when I realized the prayer was over, yes, I would also be a little late, I had a watch in a hurry, someone was waiting, so I would pray the Zuhr prayer before 'Asr, and the 'Asr prayer before Maghrib, and so on. And it was not a second or third congregation, Allah knows what number it was."
When another idea became settled in my heart, different from that first one, which is that there is no second congregation, I became, by the grace and mercy of Allah, rarely missing the first congregation. Why? Because I know that if I miss this congregation, I have no substitute for it, whereas previously it was the opposite; I would say: if I miss it, there is a second and third congregation. When the idea that was in my heart changed, my approach in my life changed. Previously, I did not care about the first congregation, and the least I would lose with that previous idea is that the first congregation is, by the consensus of all, better than the second and third, by the consensus of all.
When the correct idea became established in my heart in place of the previous one and abrogated it, my practice regarding this specific issue developed, and I became careful about the congregational prayer; because I knew that if I missed it, I would miss the good and have no compensation for it.