What is your opinion of those who say, regarding the establishment of the second congregation, citing the hadith "Is there no man who would give charity to this one," that this hadith involves a giver of charity and a recipient of charity?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you, O esteemed Shaykh. I testify to Allah that I love you in Him. What is your opinion of those who say, regarding the establishment of the second congregation, about the hadith: Sunan Abi Dawud 574Sahih (Al-Albani) : That this hadith involves a giver of charity and a recipient of charity, and the two who were late for the prayer and established a second congregation do not include a giver of charity. Also, the second congregation is not established, because the original ruling in worship is prohibition? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Who said that the original ruling regarding the establishment of the congregation is prohibition? Which hadith indicates that this is prohibited? We do not say this in contradiction! Did a single word come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Do not repeat the congregation"? It did not come. Then, if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered one person to stand up and a place of worship where the one who has an obligation should pray with him, how do we fulfill the obligation? Because we are now saying: if two people enter and missed the congregation, we say: you are now required to perform the congregation, and you, the second one, are required to perform the congregation. So if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) established for one who was not required to perform the congregation to pray with this person, how do we say to one for whom the congregation is obligatory: "Do not pray in congregation"? This is inverted analogy.
As for calling it charity, yes, because the man who stands with him has already fulfilled his obligation, so his second prayer becomes charity. It is charity in his case because he has done what was obligatory upon him. But if establishing the congregation were prohibited, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have permitted the charity, because the charity that necessitates the doing of a forbidden act—is it charity or forbidden? It is clear that we cannot do a recommended practice by violating a forbidden act if it were forbidden.
The important point is that this reasoning is undoubtedly defective. In fact, I say: it is dead reasoning with no spirit at all. But they cited that Ibn Mas'ud came with his companions one day and they had missed the prayer, so he left and prayed in his home, do you understand? Is the action of Ibn Mas'ud a proof in the presence of the Sunnah? No. This is one point.
Second: Did Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) return to his home and pray because the second prayer is not established except in the mosque, or for another reason? We do not know. Perhaps Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) feared that if he established the second congregation, and he is one of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), people would follow his example and become lax, saying: "This is Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) who missed the congregation, so we are even more entitled to do so."
Perhaps Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) left to his home fearing that something might be in the heart of the imam, the imam of the mosque, and the imam might say: "Ibn Mas'ud was late to pray with his companions because he dislikes me—for example—so something falls in his heart." Ibn Mas'ud [did so] so that nothing would fall in the imam's heart, because he knows Ibn Mas'ud, for example, and there is nothing between him and him. But someone other than Ibn Mas'ud would say: "Ibn Mas'ud lagged behind this imam because there is something wrong with this imam." We do not know about Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and what the reason was.
And if we do not know the reason, the matter enters the realm of probability, and the scholars say: if probability enters the evidence, the argumentation is invalidated by it. But as I said first: we have a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordering the establishment of the second congregation for one who missed it, and he said:Sunan Abi Dawud 554Hasan (Al-Albani) And this is general. He did not say "except for the one who entered with his companion after the prayer ended." For this reason, I wish that students of knowledge would not take knowledge from one man, or believe that he is protected from error. No one is protected from error. If anyone were protected from error, the first to be protected would be the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and yet they make mistakes.
In any case, what we see is that establishing the second congregation is from the Sunnah. As for making it a regular, fixed matter, that is what would be from religious innovation. In the past, in the Sacred Mosque, four imams would pray. The Sacred Mosque in Mecca had four imams: an imam for the Hanbalis, an imam for the Shafi'is, an imam for the Malikis, and an imam for the Hanafis. But when King 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) took control of Mecca and the Hijaz, he abolished this and said: "It is not possible for one mosque to have four imams." This is... yes, that is right.
Is there any man who may do good with this
ألا رجل يتصدق على هذاThe Shaykh : Who said that the original ruling regarding the establishment of the congregation is prohibition? Which hadith indicates that this is prohibited? We do not say this in contradiction! Did a single word come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Do not repeat the congregation"? It did not come. Then, if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered one person to stand up and a place of worship where the one who has an obligation should pray with him, how do we fulfill the obligation? Because we are now saying: if two people enter and missed the congregation, we say: you are now required to perform the congregation, and you, the second one, are required to perform the congregation. So if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) established for one who was not required to perform the congregation to pray with this person, how do we say to one for whom the congregation is obligatory: "Do not pray in congregation"? This is inverted analogy.
As for calling it charity, yes, because the man who stands with him has already fulfilled his obligation, so his second prayer becomes charity. It is charity in his case because he has done what was obligatory upon him. But if establishing the congregation were prohibited, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have permitted the charity, because the charity that necessitates the doing of a forbidden act—is it charity or forbidden? It is clear that we cannot do a recommended practice by violating a forbidden act if it were forbidden.
The important point is that this reasoning is undoubtedly defective. In fact, I say: it is dead reasoning with no spirit at all. But they cited that Ibn Mas'ud came with his companions one day and they had missed the prayer, so he left and prayed in his home, do you understand? Is the action of Ibn Mas'ud a proof in the presence of the Sunnah? No. This is one point.
Second: Did Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) return to his home and pray because the second prayer is not established except in the mosque, or for another reason? We do not know. Perhaps Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) feared that if he established the second congregation, and he is one of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), people would follow his example and become lax, saying: "This is Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) who missed the congregation, so we are even more entitled to do so."
Perhaps Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) left to his home fearing that something might be in the heart of the imam, the imam of the mosque, and the imam might say: "Ibn Mas'ud was late to pray with his companions because he dislikes me—for example—so something falls in his heart." Ibn Mas'ud [did so] so that nothing would fall in the imam's heart, because he knows Ibn Mas'ud, for example, and there is nothing between him and him. But someone other than Ibn Mas'ud would say: "Ibn Mas'ud lagged behind this imam because there is something wrong with this imam." We do not know about Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and what the reason was.
And if we do not know the reason, the matter enters the realm of probability, and the scholars say: if probability enters the evidence, the argumentation is invalidated by it. But as I said first: we have a hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordering the establishment of the second congregation for one who missed it, and he said:
A man's prayer said along with another is purer than his prayer said alone
إن صلاة الرجل مع الرجل أزكى من صلاته وحدهIn any case, what we see is that establishing the second congregation is from the Sunnah. As for making it a regular, fixed matter, that is what would be from religious innovation. In the past, in the Sacred Mosque, four imams would pray. The Sacred Mosque in Mecca had four imams: an imam for the Hanbalis, an imam for the Shafi'is, an imam for the Malikis, and an imam for the Hanafis. But when King 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) took control of Mecca and the Hijaz, he abolished this and said: "It is not possible for one mosque to have four imams." This is... yes, that is right.