The ruling on the presence of two congregations in the mosque after the first congregation
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Question:
This questioner says in his first question: There is a mosque at our workplace that is always—praise be to Allah—full of worshippers. When the prayer ends, another congregation immediately forms and prays. However, it sometimes happens—though rarely—that there is another congregation praying in another location that they did not see, so there end up being two or more congregations in the mosque at the same time. What should be done in this case? And what is required of one who arrives late to pray and finds two congregations in the mosque performing the prayer? Which one should he join?
Please inform us of this, and may you be rewarded.
Answer:
There is no harm in establishing a second congregation if the regular imam has prayed and people who have not prayed come to pray in congregation. Praise be to Allah, Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) would, when he arrived and the people had already prayed, pray in congregation with his household. The point is: he prayed in congregation with his brothers and those with him.
So the conclusion is: if a group arrives and the imam has already prayed, they pray in congregation. If another group arrives, they pray with the first congregation and do not separate; they pray with the other congregation. But if they did not know about them—because the mosque is large—and they prayed in congregation, then another person arrives, he prays with whichever one he wishes. The better option is with the larger group; he prays with the larger group. The more numerous the congregation, the greater the reward. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
This questioner says in his first question: There is a mosque at our workplace that is always—praise be to Allah—full of worshippers. When the prayer ends, another congregation immediately forms and prays. However, it sometimes happens—though rarely—that there is another congregation praying in another location that they did not see, so there end up being two or more congregations in the mosque at the same time. What should be done in this case? And what is required of one who arrives late to pray and finds two congregations in the mosque performing the prayer? Which one should he join?
Please inform us of this, and may you be rewarded.
Answer:
There is no harm in establishing a second congregation if the regular imam has prayed and people who have not prayed come to pray in congregation. Praise be to Allah, Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) would, when he arrived and the people had already prayed, pray in congregation with his household. The point is: he prayed in congregation with his brothers and those with him.
So the conclusion is: if a group arrives and the imam has already prayed, they pray in congregation. If another group arrives, they pray with the first congregation and do not separate; they pray with the other congregation. But if they did not know about them—because the mosque is large—and they prayed in congregation, then another person arrives, he prays with whichever one he wishes. The better option is with the larger group; he prays with the larger group. The more numerous the congregation, the greater the reward. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.