What is the ruling on the second congregation in the mosque, and what is the statement of the Shaykh al-Islam regarding this?

The questioner : The Shaykh al-Islam was asked about a man who establishes the second congregation, so he answered, may Allah have mercy on him: If it is confirmed that a second congregation is being held, then let him wait and pray with them. Does this imply that the Shaykh al-Islam says it is permissible to establish the second congregation in the mosque, and is it valid?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that his opinion is understood from the answer, and it is an opinion we do not consider correct. The practice of the Salaf (the earliest generations) did not follow it, to the will of Allah, through the ages. Nevertheless, permitting the second congregation and those after it practically leads to the harm that arises from multiplying the first congregation. The more congregations there are after the first, the more the first congregation disperses and its number decreases. This is an observed reality. Furthermore, the evidence suggests to us that this second congregation, let alone those beyond it, is not prescribed. We see the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning the Isha prayer. This hadith indicates that there was no other congregation in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because if there had been, his argument (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have stood against those who lagged behind the congregation behind him (peace and blessings be upon him). They would have said, "We pray with the second or third congregation, or the like." But the hadith strongly indicates that there was only one congregation in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and therefore the argument stands against those who lag behind it. In addition to this hadith, there are hadiths containing severe warnings against those who lag behind the congregational prayer, including the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud in Sahih Muslim, which is a long hadith in which he says: No one can doubt that this hadith and the other are understood to refer to the first congregation. In that case, the second congregation... and the intended purpose of that severe warning from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding those who lag behind the congregational prayer is not realized. Similarly, there is the hadith that commands the one who prays to rush to the mosque when he hears the caller of Allah saying, "Come to prayer, come to success,"... As you know, I believe, when 'Amr ibn Umm Maktum came to him and asked if he had a dispensation to lag behind the congregational prayer, and he initially answered that he did, when he learned that he was blind and that... the stones and trees, and the other excuses mentioned in the hadith, but the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as if he was inspired with a new revelation, said to him: If this blind man, with those excuses he described eloquently, was not excused from responding to the mu'adhdhin (the one who calls to prayer) when he says, "Come to prayer," then are those who lag behind the prayer, who are strong and healthy, excused? There is no doubt that they are not excused. If the permissibility of the second congregation is claimed, that means we have opened a door and an excuse for them to make up for what they missed by lagging behind the congregational prayer. Then, in the fatwa of Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him), there is another contradiction, in my opinion. There is a hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud regarding Mu'adh ibn Jabal, or in the story of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, in which he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Because the ruling of asking about this in Islam was prescribed in the Sunnah: when a person enters the mosque and stands in the row, he asks who is in the row which rak'ah (a unit of prayer) it is. For example, he is told, "This is the second rak'ah," and he is praying the missed rak'ah alone, then he joins the imam (the one who leads the prayer) and prays with them. But since this ruling was abrogated by many texts, including the saying of Allah the Exalted: it is not permissible for one who is praying to speak. This ruling was abrogated on the occasion of Mu'adh ibn Jabal coming to the mosque and finding the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in prayer. He entered the prayer and did not ask, as those before him had asked. When the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) finished the prayer and knew what Mu'adh had done, he called him and said, "Do as the imam does. If the imam is bowing, bow. If he is prostrating, prostrate." This was explained in a well-known hadith in the two Sahihs: If the one who joins the prayer late catches the imam in the tashahhud (the testification recited while sitting in prayer), then based on this hadith, he must follow the imam and not lag behind him. This would be the case if the second congregation were prescribed. But since it is not prescribed, as we have mentioned from the evidence and other evidence, it is even more so that it is not permissible for this one who joins the prayer late, who enters the mosque while the imam is sitting in the tashahhud, to wait and do nothing and not join the imam, because this is a clear contradiction of the imam. Also, what indicates to us that the second congregation and those after it are not prescribed in Islam is that if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had been inspired with the permissibility of the second congregation while there was an imam, whom the jurists call the regular imam, then the scope of this legislation would have been more appropriate and necessary in the prayer of fear. We observe that in all the methods that came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the prayer of fear, including what is authentic and what is not, all of them agree that the imam in the prayer of fear is one. It is not hidden from you that the prayer of war, the prayer of fear, requires some facilitation for the people. Yet we observe that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray the prayer of fear in forms, one of which was that if he was outside the city, he would pray two rak'ahs shortened with the people, and the people would pray behind him in two groups in succession, each group praying one rak'ah behind him. , So we say, in the Syrian expression, "Look at this confusion." For the sake of this strictness and rigor, let the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pray with one group and leave, and order Abu Bakr or someone else to pray with the second group, and this precision and rigor in maintaining the unity of the imam is in the prayer of fear, in the prayer of war. How can we divide the first congregation into groups and groups, and see some groups praying the 'Asr (the afternoon prayer) while the adhan (the call to prayer) for Maghrib (the sunset prayer) is being called? This used to happen to us in the largest mosque in Damascus, known as the Umayyad Mosque, or the Mosque of Banu Umayyah. And this should remind us of the well-known hadith and we should understand it well, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Those who go to the permissibility of the second congregation are, in fact, arguing with some evidence, including this hadith. They understand "congregation" here not as a specific reference, but as a general and comprehensive term. As if they understand the hadith to mean that the congregational prayer, meaning the prayer of any congregation, whether it is the first, the second, or the tenth, is better than the prayer of one alone by twenty-seven degrees. But the correct understanding is that "congregation" here is a specific reference, not a general and comprehensive one. This is a very important rule: to interpret the texts and the Prophetic sayings by the Prophetic application. If there had been multiple congregations in the Prophetic era that took place in his mosque (peace and blessings be upon him), and he approved of them and witnessed them without denying them, then those people would have the right to understand "congregation" here as a general and comprehensive term, including any congregation, whether it is the first or the last. But since we are certain that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had only one congregation established in his mosque, from the evidence we mentioned earlier, and there is other evidence that confirms the first evidence, including what Imam al-Shafi'i mentioned in his book al-Umm, which is a very valuable book that addresses this issue. He says in clear Arabic: "If a group enters the mosque and finds that the imam has already prayed, they pray individually. And if they pray as a group, their prayer is sufficient for them, but I dislike it because it was not the practice of the Salaf." This is the point. Then he says on the next page: "And we have memorized that a group of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) missed the prayer with the congregation, so they prayed individually. And they were able to gather again, but they did not do so because they disliked to gather in the mosque twice." So the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) must have missed the congregation, because a person has his excuses, so they did not establish a second congregation, but each individual prayed alone. This is the text of Imam al-Shafi'i in al-Umm, and what he reported about the Companions as a comment without a chain, al-Hafiz Ibn Abi Shaybah authenticated in his Musannaf from al-Hasan al-Basri that the Companions, when they missed the prayer with the congregation, would pray individually. This meaning is confirmed by the fact that if the permissibility of the second congregation were claimed, and it had that virtue of the first congregation, then the second congregation would be better than the first. How is that? Imam al-Nasa'i narrated in his Sunan with a strong chain from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: If this person prays as a second congregation and the first congregation is recorded for him, he would have taken two rewards. And no rational person says this. Finally, we say, as we hinted at the beginning of our speech on this issue, that we know practically, I personally and others, that if it settles in the mind of the Muslim that there is a prescribed second congregation, that drives him to not be enthusiastic about the first congregation. Ask an expert, because I used to sit in my shop, and I was known for having grown up in the trade, and the mosque was next to me. So I would hear the adhan, and the clock was in my hand, I would be installing a screw or a spring or anything, and I would say, "Here, let me install this screw, let me install this spring," and then my mind would tell me, "Okay, you finished the repair with you, go to the mosque and find that the congregation has ended." My soul would return and say, "Where is my mind?" Because in my mind, before my Lord, was the hope that I would see the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that there is a second congregation. And this is the established ruling in the depths of the books of the schools of jurisprudence, approximately. So the discussion between the mind and the soul would return: "Okay, you go to the mosque, maybe you won't find an imam. Okay, you didn't like yourself, you are a student of knowledge, you are praying for the people as an imam, and so on." So many times I missed the prayer with these excuses and these discussions. But when it settled in my mind that there is no second congregation, it is very, very, very rare that I miss this congregation. And if I miss it, I pray alone to feel that I am a loser, that the first congregation is gone. This is observed in the Friday prayer, for example. The Friday prayer. Why is the mosque crowded with worshippers, so that it cannot accommodate them? There is no doubt there are two reasons, but one of them is what we are discussing. The other reason is that people who do not pray the five daily prayers pray the Friday prayer, which is known. But also among the reasons is that those who are keen on the five daily prayers with the congregation and on the Friday prayer have settled in their minds that it is permissible to repeat the congregational prayer, but it is not permissible to repeat the Friday prayer. For that reason, the mosque is crowded with worshippers on Friday, because it has settled in their minds that there is no repetition of this congregation. And when we know this reality, which is witnessed by the actual situation, and we return to another hadith similar to the first hadith of Abu Hurayrah: Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih a similar hadith from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The hadith of Ibn Mas'ud ends here, unlike the hadith of Abu Hurayrah. So we find here that the warning is directed at both congregations: the congregation of the five daily prayers and the congregation of Friday. Just as it is not permissible to lag behind the Friday prayer, so it is not permissible to lag behind the congregational prayer. So we are at the end, and this is the final answer to that question. In the end, the one who is keen to perform the congregational prayer with the first congregation, in the practical result, rarely misses it. And this is what happened to me and to others. If he misses it, his reward is recorded for him because he intended the congregational prayer. So either he is like this, or he is indifferent to the congregational prayer, and it is enough for him that he performs this obligation, even if it is at the end of the time, alone. Then he has no share of this virtue, and he does not have this virtue, and he cannot attain it even if he prays many congregations. This is the final answer.


The questioner : ... al-Hasan al-Basri

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : Al-Mubarakpuri mentions in a book of his titled *Idhal al-Mannan li-Ma'rifat Dhabt al-Nimawi* that there is an addition to this report: "They only did that out of fear of the ruler or because of fitnah (trial/discord); they did not pray in congregation so that their affair would be exposed, but rather they prayed individually." So I do not know the extent of the authenticity of this statement?

The Shaykh : In any case, I have no knowledge of this addition, and it seems to have passed by me quickly. But where is its chain of narration? First, this is an argument for us. Why? This reminds us of the well-known hadith in Sahih Muslim , and in another narration . In this hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) showed extreme concern for not separating from the congregation, even if that congregation was a congregation of unjust rulers who kill the prayer and delay it from its time. He told them: "Pray, you pray the prayer naturally by yourselves, then pray it with the congregation so that you have combined two virtues: the first virtue is performing the prayer in its proper time, and the second virtue is the virtue of congregational prayer. So suppose these people did the same; they would be achieving a Sharia objective. Yes, indeed."

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.


The questioner : My teacher, what is the ruling on congregational prayer before the regular imam for a necessity?

The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the first congregation is considered the primary congregation. In this question, it is considered an encroachment on the regular imam, and this is a cause of disagreement and conflict between this group and the imam and those who will pray behind him. Therefore, at a time when I do not imagine that there is a necessity that imposes itself and obligates establishing a congregation other than the regular one, despite the fact that I do not imagine such a necessity, I see that if it exists, those who want to pray should seek the imam's permission. But let us pause for a moment: what is the necessity that you mentioned in your question?

The questioner : For the sake of lectures at the university. After the adhan, the prayer is held immediately, and they pray so that they can catch up to the lectures?

The Shaykh : And the prayer that is held in the mosque?

The questioner : Yes, after.

The Shaykh : And after the adhan, naturally? Why do they not agree with the imam at such a time to hasten the performance of the prayer so that the students can catch the lecture and it does not miss them? I mean, first, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a context other than this: . So this issue can be handled in one way or another. Second, the lecture that will be delivered—we cannot imagine it being an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) for the Muslim that he must attend, especially since he may miss lectures for himself...
...such as looking into the chains of hadith, corroborating narrations, and supporting chains, so that it is unlikely that he would miss a corroborating narration that strengthens the text, even if its chain is weak. For this and that reason, it is not easy for a novice in this knowledge to authenticate or weaken a specific chain. And this has happened to some of the alert scholars today—I do not say young people, but some of the alert scholars today—due to the importance of hadith in fiqh, and that this inherited fiqh is not sufficient unless it is accompanied by Sharia evidence. They know...