He spoke about "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn the houses of those who did not attend the congregational prayer, but he did not do so."

The Shaykh : And for this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) emphasized the meaning contained in this hadith, which commands everyone who hears the call to prayer to respond, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In this hadith, there is a very severe warning for anyone who neglects the prayer in the mosque of the Muslims without a valid legal excuse; he deserves to be burned by fire in this world before the Hereafter. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as you have heard: meaning on his behalf. Then he does what follows. He said: I will go to a group of people who neglect the prayer with the congregation, meaning I will ambush them and surprise them. Because it is expected of these defaulters that they respond to the call of Allah, as we said, and it is expected that they know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prays in the mosque as the imam, as is his custom. However, he (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to appoint a man to pray on his behalf to ambush those who neglected the prayer in the mosque and burn their houses. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, explaining the affliction that befalls many people, especially in the last times like our present time, that they neglect the congregation for a worldly matter, however trivial it may be. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning two small bones from the bottom of the foot of a sheep or goat, which are usually thrown on the ground and have no value. If he knew that he would find a worldly benefit in the mosque like these two small bones, he would attend it, meaning the Isha prayer. This is where the hadith ends, and it is one of the most authentic hadiths, as it was narrated by the two Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs. Here is a question that may come to the mind of some people: Why did he (peace and blessings be upon him) intend to burn the houses of those who neglected the congregational prayer but did not do so? He said: I intended to, but he did not do it. Therefore, this hadith reminds us of a verse in the Noble Qur'an that some readers and reciters of the Noble Qur'an may misunderstand when they pass by the saying of the Exalted in Surat Yusuf: So, the intention (hamm) does not mean the action, but rather it is one of the preliminaries of the action. The scholars divide what comes to the mind of a Muslim, and then what results from it in terms of action, into categories. The first category is the thought (khatirah), a thought that comes to the mind of a person, whether it is good or bad. If this thought strengthens and takes its place in the mind of the person, it becomes an intention (hamm). If this thought strengthens further and reaches the level of intention (hamm), then comes the resolve ('azm), and after the resolve, there is only the action. Therefore, the Exalted said regarding the issue of divorce: So, the point is that the resolve comes before the action; after it, there is only the action. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn, he did not resolve to do so, let alone execute it. Why? The answer is that in the houses, as you know, are people for whom the Friday prayer is not obligatory, the first of whom are women, then children who have not reached the age of accountability. Also, in the houses, there may be people who are accountable but are excused. Therefore, it was the wisdom of the Messenger (peace be upon him) to warn but not execute. He combined between realizing the benefit, which is encouraging attendance at the congregational prayer, and repelling the harm, which is not burning the houses with the people inside them, because if he had done so, the fire would have affected those who do not deserve to be burned. So, in this hadith, there is a severe warning for those who neglect the congregational prayer without a valid legal excuse. There are no excuses that can be mentioned on this occasion except that the man is sick, or that he is sleeping, and that his sleep is also prescribed. This has a long discussion, and I do not want to delve into it now for fear that we will stray from what we are discussing.