Strive to Pray in Congregation
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Q: From A. S. S. - Riyadh, he says: There are people near our mosque who hear the call to prayer but do not attend the prayer. O honorable Shaykh, does their hearing the call constitute evidence against them? Is it obligatory for us to advise those we know do not perform the prayer with the Muslim congregation, such that we would be sinful for leaving it? What is the role of the mosque imam and the mosque mu'adhdhin in their area? Please issue a ruling, may Allah reward you.
A: It is obligatory for one who hears the call to prayer with the usual voice, without a loudspeaker, to respond to the prayer in congregation in the mosque where it is called, 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 sound chain. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and her) was asked about an excuse, and he said: (Fear or illness). And Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a blind man 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? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: He said: Yes. He said: .
And in Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) , he said: (Whoever likes to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where they are called. Indeed, Allah has prescribed for your Prophet the sunnahs of guidance, and they are among the sunnahs of guidance. If you were to pray in your houses as this laggard prays in his house, you would have abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet, and if you abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet, you would have gone astray. I have seen us, and none lagged behind except a known hypocrite or a sick person. And indeed, a man would be brought to the prayer, supported between two men, until he was placed in the row).
And in the two Sahihs, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said:Sunan Abi Dawud 548Sahih (Al-Albani).
The hadiths regarding the exaltation of the status of prayer and the urging to perform it in mosques are numerous. So it is obligatory for Muslims to guard them in the mosques, to advise one another thereof, and to cooperate in that. It is upon the imam and the mu'adhdhin to encourage people to that and to check on them. And it is upon the one in authority to punish those who lag behind from the prayer in the mosque with what deters them from that; because prayer is the pillar of Islam, and it is the greatest of its rituals, and the greatest of its pillars after the two testimonies. Whoever guards it, he guards his religion, and whoever neglects it, he is more neglectful of what is besides it. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 1079Sahih (Darussalam).
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih Muslim 82b And Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad with a sound chain from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with him and her) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Mishkat al-Masabih 578 And 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) would write to his governors in the various parts of the land and say to them: The most important of your matters to me is prayer. Whoever guards it, he guards his religion, and whoever neglects it, he is more neglectful of what is besides it.
As for the one who is far from the mosque and does not hear the call except with a loudspeaker, it is not obligatory for him to attend the mosque, and he may pray with those with him in a separate congregation, based on the apparent meaning of the aforementioned hadiths. If they undergo hardship and attend with the congregation in the mosques from which they do not hear the call except with a loudspeaker due to their distance from them, that would be greater for their reward, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Sahih al-Bukhari 651.
And due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Ibn Majah 774Sahih (Darussalam) And in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) : Jami` at-Tirmidhi 388Sahih (Darussalam).
And in Sahih Muslim, a man was far from the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so some of his companions said to him: Why don't you buy a donkey to ride in the scorching heat and in the dark night? He refused and said: I love that Allah writes my steps going and returning. That reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said:.
The hadiths regarding the virtue of going to the mosques and the urging to that are very numerous. And Allah is the guarantor of success.
A: It is obligatory for one who hears the call to prayer with the usual voice, without a loudspeaker, to respond to the prayer in congregation in the mosque where it is called, 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 عذرDo you hear the call to prayer?
هل تسمع النداء للصلاة؟Respond
أجبAnd in Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) , he said: (Whoever likes to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where they are called. Indeed, Allah has prescribed for your Prophet the sunnahs of guidance, and they are among the sunnahs of guidance. If you were to pray in your houses as this laggard prays in his house, you would have abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet, and if you abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet, you would have gone astray. I have seen us, and none lagged behind except a known hypocrite or a sick person. And indeed, a man would be brought to the prayer, supported between two men, until he was placed in the row).
And in the two Sahihs, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he 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 فيؤم الناس، ثم أنطلق معي برجال معهم حزم من حطب إلى قوم لا يشهدون الصلاة فأحرق عليهم بيوتهم بالنارThe hadiths regarding the exaltation of the status of prayer and the urging to perform it in mosques are numerous. So it is obligatory for Muslims to guard them in the mosques, to advise one another thereof, and to cooperate in that. It is upon the imam and the mu'adhdhin to encourage people to that and to check on them. And it is upon the one in authority to punish those who lag behind from the prayer in the mosque with what deters them from that; because prayer is the pillar of Islam, and it is the greatest of its rituals, and the greatest of its pillars after the two testimonies. Whoever guards it, he guards his religion, and whoever neglects it, he is more neglectful of what is besides it. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; so whoever leaves it, he has committed Kufr.
العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة فمن تركها فقد كفرAnd he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Between man and polytheism and unbelief is the abandonment of salat.
بين الرجل وبين الشرك والكفر ترك الصلاةIf anyone keeps to it, it will be light, evidence and salvation for him on the day of resurrection; but if anyone does not keep to it, it will not be for him light, evidence, or salvation, and on the day of resurrection he will be associated with Qarun, Pharaoh, Haman, 1 and Ubayy b. Khalaf
من حافظ على الصلاة كانت له نورًا وبرهانًا ونجاة يوم القيامة، ومن لم يحافظ عليها لم يكن له نور ولا برهان ولا نجاة، وحشر يوم القيامة مع فرعون وهامان وقارون وأبي بن خلفAs for the one who is far from the mosque and does not hear the call except with a loudspeaker, it is not obligatory for him to attend the mosque, and he may pray with those with him in a separate congregation, based on the apparent meaning of the aforementioned hadiths. If they undergo hardship and attend with the congregation in the mosques from which they do not hear the call except with a loudspeaker due to their distance from them, that would be greater for their reward, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
The people who get tremendous reward for the prayer are those who are farthest away (from the mosque) and then those who are next farthest
أعظم الناس أجرًا في الصلاة أبعدهم فأبعدهم ممشىAnd due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
When one of you performs ablution and does it well, then he comes to the mosque with no other motive but prayer and not seeking anything other than the prayer, he does not take one step but Allah raises him in status one degree thereby, and takes away one of his sins
إذا توضأ المسلم في بيته ثم خرج إلى الصلاة لم يخط خطوة إلا رفعه الله بها درجة وحط عنه بها خطيئةNo worshipper performs a prostration to Allah except that by it, Allah will raise him a level, and erase a sin from him for it
إلا رفعه الله بها درجة وحط عنه بها خطيئة وكتب له بها حسنةAnd in Sahih Muslim, a man was far from the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so some of his companions said to him: Why don't you buy a donkey to ride in the scorching heat and in the dark night? He refused and said: I love that Allah writes my steps going and returning. That reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said:
Indeed, Allah has gathered all of that for him
إن الله قد جمع له ذلك كلهThe hadiths regarding the virtue of going to the mosques and the urging to that are very numerous. And Allah is the guarantor of success.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.