Reconciling the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) command to the blind man to respond to the call with the caller’s statement on a rainy night, “Pray in your homes.”

'Umar al-Ashqar: There is the hadith of the blind man, Ibn Umm Maktum, regarding congregational prayer along with the hadith that the caller used to call out on a cold, rainy, freezing night, “Pray in your homes,” even though this is an excuse.

The Shaykh : And it is the rain.
'Umar al-Ashqar: I mean the severe cold, the cold, rainy night. This is one of the excuses. And the blind man, in reality, has no guide who might prevent the rain or the cold. How do you reconcile these two texts, this text and this text?

The Shaykh : First, I do not see any contradiction between the two texts, because it is not hidden from you that a contradiction must exist in the wording of the Messenger (peace be upon him) as a general rule issued by him, to which a specific case appears to contradict the general rule. In my knowledge or recollection, that is not the case here, because you are saying that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said to him This general statement is not like if the Messenger (peace be upon him) had said, “I find no excuse for anyone who misses the congregational prayer,” is it not so? And for the healthy person, gesturing is sufficient.