Explaining the Superiority of Congregational Prayer

The Shaykh : ... congregation, and what did you call it?

The questioner : The house.

The Shaykh : The house, the congregation of the house. I said that a comparison must be made between the two congregations. There is no doubt that the congregation of the house will be superior in terms of quality, at least, and perhaps in quantity as well. Is that clear up to this point? This superiority is relative. For example, if we assume that the reciter in the mosque reads three verses in each rak'ah, while in the congregation of the house he reads four verses, for instance, is this ratio of difference a valid reason to prefer the congregation of the house over the congregation of the mosque? Let me give you a counter-example. Yesterday, we heard a recitation, what Allah willed, on the Saudi radio from the Prophet's Mosque, as one of my children informed me. I set the clock, and the recitation was such that I rarely hear from the well-known reciters on the radio with an impact on hearts like it. The recitation for a single rak'ah lasted ten minutes. There is no doubt that such a recitation is superior and distinguished without any doubt or hesitation. This congregation, the congregation of the house with its distinguished ratio of recitation, is superior to the congregation in the mosque. Is the intended meaning of the speech clear? Therefore, the ratio must be studied, the ratio of preference between this congregation and that. Why? Because these matters are always matters of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), and they are truly slippery slopes. Why? Because the jurist must exercise independent legal reasoning in the presence of an explicit text, meaning he must suspend the application of the text for a conflicting matter. This requires precise and very precise consideration to justify suspending the text for this conflicting matter. We have two things regarding the preservation of the congregation for the obligatory prayer and the congregation for the voluntary prayer, the voluntary night prayer. Preserving the congregation for the obligatory prayer is a matter that does not require discussion, because it has been established in the minds of the educated Muslims with correct legal awareness from ancient times that it is obligatory. Therefore, it is not permissible to abandon an obligatory matter for a recommended one. What is the recommended matter? That there is no recitation, and, and, and so on. Therefore, we said initially that it is a condition to preserve the performance of the congregation for the obligatory prayer in the mosque.
The Shaykh : Now we come to the congregation for the voluntary prayer. We have two things here. The first is what the practice of the Muslims has been from ancient times, which is their eagerness to perform this voluntary prayer, the voluntary night prayer, with the congregation of the Muslims in the houses of Allah the Exalted. Knowing, as we all know, that the original rule for voluntary prayers is that they are performed in the houses. This voluntary prayer is an exception to this rule, which draws attention to the fact that it has a special status. This special status is what led the Muslims to be eager to perform it in congregation in the mosques. This is from the practical aspect. Then, this is confirmed by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as in the hadith of Abu Dawud in "al-Sunan" with a sound chain, meaning his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
The Shaykh : . Now, when we want to take the second congregation here, meaning the second congregation is the congregation for the night prayer, over the congregation for the obligatory prayer, the second congregation is the congregation for the night prayer. When we want to take this second congregation out of the mosque to one of the houses for the merits mentioned earlier, here we undoubtedly stand face to face with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "Then he stands with the imam until the imam departs." How do we resolve the contradiction of this text, especially if we perform this second congregation in the houses and not with the imam?