Warning Against Abandoning Congregational Prayer and the Ruling on Dealing with Those Who Abandon It

Question:
A man is approaching thirty years of age and usually prays at home, although he attends the congregation at times and on Fridays, but he does not appear to be eager to stick to the congregation. His mother insists on him sticking to the congregation, and some have suggested to her that she show her anger at him and not sit with him so that perhaps he will return, but she is afraid for him. She says: I advise him. I want detailed guidance for this man regarding the evidence for the obligation of the congregation, and what a Muslim should do in obeying Allah and thanking Him for the good blessings He has bestowed upon humans, including the blessings of health, youth, well-being, and ample provision, praise be to Allah. What is the legal ruling on sitting with him and eating with him in this state? And another piece of advice: we ask you to please guide this mother and advise her on any method she can use with this young man so that perhaps he will return?

Answer:
There is no doubt that praying in congregation with the Muslims in the houses of Allah is among the most important obligations, and it is one of the symbols of Islam. It is obligatory for every person of legal age to take care of it, to hasten and rush to establish the prayer in congregation with the Muslims, and to distance himself from imitating the people of hypocrisy.
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 laggard 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. I have seen us, and none lagged behind them—meaning the prayer in congregation—except a known hypocrite. And indeed, a man—meaning from the Companions—would be brought, supported between two men—meaning a sick person or one of advanced age—until he was placed in the row," due to their intense eagerness to perform the prayer in congregation. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was said to Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) : What is the excuse? He said: "Fear or illness."
In the authentic collections, it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that a blind man came to him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque. 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: Muslim narrated it in his Sahih. In another narration from other than Imam Muslim: .
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to burn down the houses of the laggards, as is in the two authentic collections from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: .
Thus he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and in a narration from Imam Ahmad: .
The point is that prayer in congregation in the houses of Allah—which are the mosques—is an obligatory matter and a binding matter, and it is a symbol of the Muslims, and a symbol of the people of truth. Lagging behind in the homes is a symbol of the hypocrites, so a Muslim should not be pleased with imitating the people of hypocrisy about whom Allah, the Exalted, said: wavering between them, belonging neither to these nor to those [Al-Nisa: 142-143]. He, the Exalted, mentioned them with five characteristics of the hypocrites:
The first is that they deceive Allah and those who believe, so they have no sincere advice or trustworthiness, but rather they have plotting, deception, and scheming against the Muslims in their dealings.
The second is that when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, so they have no energy due to their lack of faith; it is only showing off.
The third is that they do not remember Allah except a little, so their remembrance of Allah is little, and you recognize negligence in them.
The fourth is that they are people of showing off; they show off their deeds to people, and they have no sincerity to Allah in that, but their aim in their deeds is showing off, fame, and seeking praise, and they have no sincerity to Allah, the Exalted.
The fifth is that they are wavering; they have no steadfastness and no straight goal, but rather they are sometimes with the believers and sometimes with the disbelievers. They have no principle, no stable religion, and no sincere faith, but rather if the believers appear and are victorious, they become with the believers, and if the disbelievers prevail over the Muslims, they become with the disbelievers.
This is the state of the hypocrites, so how can a believer be pleased to imitate them in lagging behind from the prayer in congregation?
The mother who advised her son to pray in congregation has done well, and this is what is obligatory upon her. It is also obligatory upon her to continue in that, to advise him constantly, and to boycott him if he refuses and does not comply. She should seek help against him from Allah, then from those she sees among his relatives, such as his father, his older brother, his uncle, or the like, if he has righteous relatives, seeking help from Allah, then from them.

In summary: Whoever is known for lagging behind from the congregation deserves to be boycotted and deserves to be disciplined by the rulers until he straightens out and guards the prayer in congregation.
It is well known that lagging behind from the prayer in congregation is among the greatest causes for abandoning it entirely—I seek refuge in Allah—because this disease in the heart that caused him to lag behind will usually lead him to abandonment and indifference, so sometimes he prays and sometimes he does not pray. And this leads him to showing off; if he sees someone he is shy of, he prays, and if he is alone, he abandons it. This is the state of the hypocrites—may Allah protect us from that—so it is obligatory to be cautious, and it is obligatory for the mother, the man's relatives, and his friends to advise him and to help his mother against him, and to boycott him if he persists in his falsehood and his lagging behind. We ask Allah for guidance for everyone.