The Ruling on Missing Congregational Prayer Without an Excuse

Question:
Many people hear the call to prayer but do not pray in the mosque; instead, they pray in their homes, and they have no valid religious excuse. Is their prayer valid?

Answer:
What some people do, which is praying in their homes while hearing the call to prayer, is reprehensible. According to the most correct opinion of the scholars, it is not permissible for them to pray in their homes when they hear the call to prayer and the mosque is nearby. Rather, it is obligatory for every adult male Muslim to pray in the mosque if he is able to do so, and if no illness or fear prevents him. This is because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to pray in the mosque. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: It was asked of Ibn Abbas: What is the excuse? He said: Illness or fear.
So if a person is ill and unable to go, he is excused. Or if he is afraid because the town is not safe, or because he is being watched for the purpose of being killed or beaten, he is excused. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum, when he sought permission to pray at home, and he was a blind man: “O Messenger of Allah! I have no guide to lead me to the mosque. Do I have a dispensation to pray in my home?” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He said: Yes. He said: Muslim narrated it in his Sahih.
If the blind man who has no guide to lead him has no excuse, what about the healthy, sighted person who has no excuse?
The point is that it is obligatory for men to pray in the mosques with the congregation, and to beware of obeying Satan by praying in their homes. The Sunnah indicates that this is so, and indeed the great Qur'an indicates it as well...