Is congregational prayer obligatory for the traveler?
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Q: The brother M. S. A. from Asyut in Egypt says in his question: If a person wants to travel to a place that is one hour away by plane from his place of residence, is it permissible for him to combine and shorten the prayer while he is staying in his hotel or place of residence, and is it permissible for him to break his fast in Ramadan? We ask for the answer.
A: No one is permitted to shorten the prayer while he is resident, except if he is a sick person for whom fasting is difficult, or a traveler during his journey.
As for the one who wants to travel while he is in his town, he is not permitted to shorten until he travels and leaves the town, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he wanted to travel, did not shorten until he left the city. And no one is permitted to pray alone, whether he is a traveler or a resident in a place where the congregation is established; rather, he must pray with the people and complete the prayer with them, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Ibn Majah 793Sahih (Darussalam) It was narrated by Ibn Majah, al-Daraqutni, Ibn Hibban, and al-Hakim with a chain meeting the conditions of Muslim. It was said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him): What is the excuse? He said: (Fear or illness).
And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by a blind man, who said: O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque, so do I have a dispensation to pray in my house? He said to him, may the prayers and peace be upon him: He said: Yes. He said: It was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih.
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 548Sahih (Al-Albani) It is agreed upon as authentic.
And Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever wishes to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers when the call is made for them, for Allah has prescribed for your Prophet the Sunnahs of guidance, and these are among the Sunnahs of guidance. If you were to pray in your homes as this delinquent prays in his home, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet, and if you abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet, you would go astray. And there is no man who performs purification and perfects it, then proceeds to one of these mosques, but that Allah writes for him a good deed for every step he takes, raises him thereby a rank, and removes from him thereby a sin. And I have seen us, and none would lag behind them except a known hypocrite or a sick person. And indeed, a man would be supported between two men until he was placed in the row." Muslim narrated it in his Sahih.
And the hadiths in this meaning are many, so it is obligatory for every Muslim, traveler or resident, to pray in the congregation, and to beware of praying alone if he hears the call to prayer. And Allah is the guarantor of success.
A: No one is permitted to shorten the prayer while he is resident, except if he is a sick person for whom fasting is difficult, or a traveler during his journey.
As for the one who wants to travel while he is in his town, he is not permitted to shorten until he travels and leaves the town, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he wanted to travel, did not shorten until he left the city. And no one is permitted to pray alone, whether he is a traveler or a resident in a place where the congregation is established; rather, he must pray with the people and complete the prayer with them, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever hears the call and does not come, his prayer is not valid, except for those who have an excuse.
من سمع النداء فلم يأته فلا صلاة له إلا من عذرAnd the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by a blind man, who said: O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque, so do I have a dispensation to pray in my house? He said to him, may the prayers and peace be upon him:
Do you hear the call to prayer?
هل تسمع النداء للصلاة؟Then respond.
فأجبAnd he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
I thought to give orders for arranging prayer in congregation, and then to have the Iqamah called for it, then to order a man to lead the people in prayer, then to go off in company of the people who have bundles of firewood to those people who are not present at the prayer and then to burn down their houses with fire.
لقد هممت أن آمر بالصلاة فتقام ثم آمر رجلًا فيصلي بالناس، ثم أنطلق معي برجال معهم حزم من حطب إلى قوم لا يشهدون الصلاة فأحرق عليهم بيوتهم بالنارAnd Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever wishes to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers when the call is made for them, for Allah has prescribed for your Prophet the Sunnahs of guidance, and these are among the Sunnahs of guidance. If you were to pray in your homes as this delinquent prays in his home, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet, and if you abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet, you would go astray. And there is no man who performs purification and perfects it, then proceeds to one of these mosques, but that Allah writes for him a good deed for every step he takes, raises him thereby a rank, and removes from him thereby a sin. And I have seen us, and none would lag behind them except a known hypocrite or a sick person. And indeed, a man would be supported between two men until he was placed in the row." Muslim narrated it in his Sahih.
And the hadiths in this meaning are many, so it is obligatory for every Muslim, traveler or resident, to pray in the congregation, and to beware of praying alone if he hears the call to prayer. And Allah is the guarantor of success.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.