The Ruling on Congregational Prayer? Its Virtue?
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Abu Layla: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness.
Abu Layla : May Allah give you a good morning.
The Shaykh : May Allah give you a morning full of good and beautiful blessings.
Abu Layla : How are you, our professor?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well, and you?
Abu Layla: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, I am well.
The Shaykh : And the children are well.
Abu Layla : Praise be to Allah, they are all well.
The Shaykh: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Abu Layla : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh: Amen.
Abu Layla : My professor, here we have some of our brothers in the market. Of course, some work in some shops, and some are the owners of the shops. Some of them used to go to congregational prayer, but for a while now they have been praying in their shops. We mentioned to them that congregational prayer is better than your prayer in your shop, and we discussed some of these matters and some of the evidence regarding them. Now, we would like to hear fromThe Shaykh : a word about congregational prayer and about those who neglect it, and what is the punishment from Allah the Mighty and Majestic for them.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Please, our professor.
It is obligatory for every Muslim to know that congregational prayer is not accepted by Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, unless it is prayed with the congregation of Muslims in their mosques. This is because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, when He said in the Noble Qur'an, He did not stop there, but He connected to His statement "and establish prayer" by saying [Al-Baqarah 2:43], and the verse says [Al-Baqarah 2:43]. Just as it is not permissible for a Muslim to limit himself to performing prayer without paying zakah if he is wealthy, and just as it is not permissible for this person to not pay zakah, being content with what he prays, so it is not permissible for this person who does not pray in his house or in his shop or in any other place, but rather it is obligatory for him to pray in the mosque with his Muslim brothers. This is explicit in the Noble Qur'an [Al-Baqarah 2:43], meaning with the congregation of those who bow and pray in the mosques. This is one thing. A second thing is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, with no leniency or laxity, every healthy Muslim who is not sick to pray in the mosque. He threatened that if he neglected the mosque, He would burn his house, as came in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The reason the Messenger (peace be upon him) did not burn the houses of those who neglected attending congregational prayer in the mosque is that there are in the houses people for whom congregational prayer is not obligatory, such as small children, and even old women, because prayer for women in their houses is better for them. For this reason, he (peace be upon him) intended to burn them but did not carry out what he intended due to the obstacle, which is the presence of those for whom prayer in the mosque is not obligatory, namely women and small children. Even if there were no other rebuke and blame for these people who neglect the mosques of Muslims except that they imitate the women who pray in their houses and not in the mosques, that would be enough shame and disgrace for them. How much more so, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn the houses of such neglecters? Therefore, it came in Sahih Muslim, from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: "We used to consider that those who neglected congregational prayer were such that no one would neglect it except a known hypocrite." The truth is that the greed of Muslims today and their competition for this world, and their neglect of caring for the matters of the Shari'ah, is the reason that causes these people not to pray in the mosques and to be content with praying in their shops and stores. The reality is that this is a great heedlessness regarding the fact that every Muslim believes that sustenance is apportioned. They forget or ignore this reality and seek sustenance from Allah through disobedience to Allah. And he (peace be upon him) said, and with this I conclude this speech: . And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Abu Layla : May Allah reward you with every good.
The Shaykh : And you likewise.
Abu Layla : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings and His forgiveness.
Abu Layla : May Allah give you a good morning.
The Shaykh : May Allah give you a morning full of good and beautiful blessings.
Abu Layla : How are you, our professor?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well, and you?
Abu Layla: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, I am well.
The Shaykh : And the children are well.
Abu Layla : Praise be to Allah, they are all well.
The Shaykh: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Abu Layla : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh: Amen.
Abu Layla : My professor, here we have some of our brothers in the market. Of course, some work in some shops, and some are the owners of the shops. Some of them used to go to congregational prayer, but for a while now they have been praying in their shops. We mentioned to them that congregational prayer is better than your prayer in your shop, and we discussed some of these matters and some of the evidence regarding them. Now, we would like to hear fromThe Shaykh : a word about congregational prayer and about those who neglect it, and what is the punishment from Allah the Mighty and Majestic for them.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Please, our professor.
It is obligatory for every Muslim to know that congregational prayer is not accepted by Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, unless it is prayed with the congregation of Muslims in their mosques. This is because Allah, Mighty and Majestic, when He said in the Noble Qur'an
And establish prayer
وأقيموا الصلاةand bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].
واركعوا مع الراكعينAnd establish prayer and give zakah and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].
وأقيموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة واركعوا مع الراكعينAnd establish prayer and give zakah and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].
وأقيموا الصلاة وآتوا الزكاة واركعوا مع الراكعينI intended to order a man to lead the people in prayer, then I would order men to gather firewood, and then I would go to a people who claim to pray with the congregation and burn their houses. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if one of them knew that in the mosque there were two good sparrowhawks, he would attend them, meaning the Isha prayer.
لقد هممت أن آمر رجلا فيصلي في الناس ثم آمر رجالا فيحطب حطبا ثم أخالف إلى أناس يدعون الصلاة مع الجماعة فأحرق عليهم بيوتهم والذي نفس محمد بيده لو يعلم أحدهم أن في المسجد مرماتين حسنتين لشهدها أي صلاة العشاءO people, no one will die until his sustenance and his lifespan are completed for him, so be beautiful in your seeking, for what is with Allah is not attained through the forbidden.
ياأيها الناس إن أحدا لن يموت حتى يستكمل رزقه وأجله فأجملوا في الطلب فإن ما عند الله لا ينال في الحرامAbu Layla : May Allah reward you with every good.
The Shaykh : And you likewise.
Abu Layla : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.