Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > Group prayer and the rules of the imam > The status of group prayer and the imam's conditions
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Updated on 24 September 2026 at 7:46 PM
Prayer in congregation occupies a central place in the structure of prayer in Islam. The jurists devoted a detailed study to it: its legal status, upon whom it is binding, the minimum number that forms it, its location, the repetition of the congregation, and the excuses that exempt from attending it. This page brings together the positions of the schools with their evidence, drawn from the classical sources of fiqh.
Whoever prays isha in congregation is like one who stood half the night in prayer; and whoever prays fajr in congregation is like one who prayed the whole night.Reported by Muslim (656), from Uthman ibn Affan
Because of its importance, Ibn al-Arabi said: prayer in congregation is the pillar of the religion and the banner of Islam; if the people of Egypt abandoned it they would be fought, and the people of a district would be compelled and forced to observe it (at-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 2/81; al-Ifsah, 1/203).
The jurists differed over the status of prayer in congregation according to three opinions.
First opinion: an obligation upon each individual. The Hanafis, the Hanbalis, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Khuzaymah among the Shafi'is hold that prayer in congregation is obligatory upon every individual, except under an excuse, without being a condition for the validity of the prayer. This is the explicit text of Imam al-Shafi'i in Mukhtasar al-Muzani (1/21): "As for the congregation, I grant no concession for abandoning it except under an excuse." They argue from the Quran, the Sunnah and the transmission of the community.
The first verse cited is the saying of Allah:
"Establish prayer, give zakat, and bow with those who bow."
Surah al-Baqarah, 43
Allah commanded bowing with those who bow, which is only realized through sharing the bowing: this is therefore a command to establish prayer in congregation. And the absolute imperative denotes obligation (Mu'ani al-Athar, 1/488).
The second verse is that of the prayer in a state of fear:
"When you are among them and lead them in prayer, let a group of them stand with you, carrying their arms; then, when they have prostrated, let them go behind you, and let another group come that has not prayed and pray with you."
Surah an-Nisa', 102
The reasoning from this verse is threefold. First, had congregational prayer not been obligatory, there would have been no concession in the state of fear, for the obligations of the prayer may not be neglected on its account. Second, the command of congregation in the state of fear indicates that in the state of security it is even stronger. Third, Allah commanded the congregation to the first group, then repeated that command for the second: "and let another group come that has not prayed and pray with you."
This proves that congregation is an obligation upon each individual, since Allah did not remove it from the second group by the act of the first. Had it been a recommendation, the excuse of fear would be the most apt to remove it; and had it been a collective obligation, the act of the first group would have removed it. The verse therefore contains three successive commands, without any concession for abandoning it even in fear (al-Mughni, 2/377; as-Salah wa hukm tarikiha by Ibn al-Qayyim, 138).
The third verse:
"The day the shin will be uncovered and they will be called to prostrate, but they will not be able; their eyes humbled, humiliation covering them, while they had been called to prostrate while they were sound."
Surah al-Qalam, 42-43
Allah prevented them from prostrating because they refused to answer the call to prostration in this world. Answering the call in this world means coming to the mosque for the congregation, not praying alone at home: the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself explained the answering thus.
A blind man came to the Prophet and said: O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque. He therefore asked the Messenger of Allah for a concession to pray in his house, and he granted it. Hardly had he left when the Prophet called him and said: do you hear the call to prayer? He said: yes. He said: answer it.Reported by Muslim (653), from Abu Hurayrah
The blind man was therefore not permitted to pray at home when he hears the call: the commanded answer is precisely coming to the mosque for the congregation. The hadith of Ibn Umm Maktum points the same way: he said: O Messenger of Allah, Madinah abounds in vermin and wild beasts. The Prophet said to him: do you hear "Come to prayer, come to success"? He said: yes. He said: "Answer, then!", and did not grant him a concession (authentic hadith reported by Abu Dawud, 553, and an-Nasa'i, 851). The expression "answer, then" is an imperative whose meaning is: come and answer; it shows that the answer is made by attending the congregation, and that whoever abandons it has not answered (as-Salah wa hukm tarikiha, 139).
Among the proofs from the Sunnah is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah:
By Him in whose hand is my soul, I intended to order that firewood be gathered, then to order the prayer and have the adhan called for it, then to order a man to lead the people in prayer, then to set upon men and burn their houses over them. By Him in whose hand is my soul, if any one of them knew that he would find a fat bone or two morsels of mutton, he would attend isha.Reported by al-Bukhari (644) and Muslim (651)
The Prophet's resolve to burn the houses of those who neglect congregational prayer over them is a manifest proof of its obligation upon the individual: it is not conceivable that the Messenger of Allah should threaten with punishment one who neglects a sin, or something that is not obligatory. The hadith of Abu Hurayrah confirms this: the Prophet said of a man who left the mosque after the adhan: "That one has disobeyed Abu al-Qasim" (reported by Muslim, 655). Had a man been free to attend the congregation or not, it would not be permitted to say of one who neglects something not obligatory that he has disobeyed.
The second pillar of evidence is the story of the blind man already mentioned: he is Ibn Umm Maktum, whose name is a matter of dispute: Abdallah or Amr. In the Sunan of Abu Dawud, Amr ibn Umm Maktum says:
O Messenger of Allah, I am a man of defective sight, with a sprawling dwelling, and my guide does not suit me: do I have a concession to pray in my house? He said: do you hear the call? He said: yes. He said: I find no concession for you.Authentic hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (552)
Ibn al-Qayyim said: the upholders of obligation hold that the absolute imperative denotes obligation; all the more so when the Lawgiver explicitly declares that there is no concession for a servant to neglect the congregation, even a blind man with a sprawling dwelling whose guide does not suit him. Had the servant been free to pray alone or in congregation, the blind man would be the first of all to deserve such an option. Abu Bakr Ibn al-Mundhir said: the mention of attending the congregation being required of the blind, however far their homes may be from the mosque, proves that attending the congregation is an obligation and not a recommendation; and if the Prophet said to the blind Ibn Umm Maktum: "I find no concession for you", the sighted man has all the more right not to have one (as-Salah wa hukm tarikiha, 145; al-Awsat of Ibn al-Mundhir, 4/132).
The third testimony is the hadith of Abdallah ibn Mas'ud:
Whoever is pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him uphold these prayers where they are called for: Allah has laid down for your Prophet the traditions of guidance, and these are among them. If you were to pray in your houses as this negligent one prays in his house, you would abandon the tradition of your Prophet; and were you to abandon the tradition of your Prophet, you would go astray. There is no man who performs ablution well, then sets out for one of these mosques, but Allah records for him a good deed for every step he takes, raises him a degree thereby, and erases a sin from him. In our time, we saw none neglect these prayers but a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was well known: a man was even brought to the row supported between two men. In another version: the Messenger of Allah taught us the traditions of guidance, and prayer in the mosque where the adhan is called is among them.Reported by Muslim (654)
Ibn al-Qayyim draws from it the following argument: the Companion made abandoning the congregation one of the signs of hypocrites whose hypocrisy is well known; yet the signs of hypocrisy can be neither the abandonment of a recommendation nor the doing of a disliked act. Whoever surveys the signs of hypocrisy in the Sunnah finds them all in leaving an obligation or committing a forbidden act. The meaning is confirmed by the phrase "whoever is pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him uphold these prayers where they are called for", and by the fact that the one who prays at home is there called a "negligent one" who has left a tradition, that is, the way of the Messenger of Allah.
This is not the kind of tradition whose doing is optional and whose abandonment entails neither misguidance nor a sign of hypocrisy, such as the duha prayer, the night vigil, or the fast of Monday and Thursday (as-Salah wa hukm tarikiha, 146-147; the rest of the evidence in this chapter has been left out for brevity).
As for the transmission of the community, al-Kasani formulates it thus: the ummah, from the time of the Messenger of Allah to this day, has held fast to prayer in congregation and disapproved of whoever neglects it; this constancy is a proof of obligation. There is here no real difference in expression, for the emphatic recommendation and the obligation produce the same effect, especially for the manifest rites of Islam. Do you not see that al-Karkhi called it a "recommendation" and then defined it as an obligation, saying: the congregation is a recommendation whose observance no one may delay without an excuse? That is the very definition of obligation with the majority.
Second opinion: an emphatic recommendation. The Malikis, some Shafi'is, and Imam Ahmad in one report hold that prayer in congregation is an emphatic recommendation (sunna mu'akkada). They cite the Prophet's hadith:
Prayer in congregation is superior to prayer offered alone by twenty-five degrees, or by twenty-seven degrees.Authentic hadith, reported by al-Bukhari (619) and Muslim (650)
The mention of superiority is the hallmark of recommendations. Ibn Abd al-Barr said: the Prophet's words "prayer in congregation is superior to prayer alone" can only be understood in one of three ways: either it refers to supererogatory prayer, or to the one who misses the congregation with an excuse, or to the one who misses it without an excuse.
Yet it is established that the Prophet said: "A man's prayer in his house is better than his prayer in this mosque of mine, except the obligatory prayers": we therefore know that the hadith of this chapter does not refer to supererogatory prayer, since he preferred the supererogatory prayer offered alone in one's house. Likewise the Prophet said: "If someone has a night prayer and sleep overcomes him, the reward of his prayer is written for him, and his sleep is counted as charity" (authentic hadith reported by an-Nasa'i, 1784); and: "If an illness keeps a man from a deed he used to do, the reward of that deed is written for him as long as his illness lasts" (weak hadith reported by at-Tabarani in al-Awsat, 8609). We therefore know that the one who misses with an excuse does not fall under the hadith. Once these two readings are set aside, what remains is that the one intended is the one who, without excuse, neglects what was enjoined: this proves that the recommendation weighs upon him as an obligation, and that the Prophet only compared congregation and solitary prayer while both were lawful, one being superior to the other (al-Istidhkar, 2/138).
The upholders of this second opinion add: the Prophet did not rebuke the two men who said they had prayed in their camps; had the congregation been obligatory, he would have rebuked them. Aswad ibn Yazid reports that his father prayed with the Messenger of Allah as a young man, and that two men had not prayed in a corner of the mosque; the Prophet had them brought, and their sides were trembling:
What prevented you from praying with us? They said: we have prayed in our camps. He said: do not do that; if one of you prays in his camp and then comes upon the imam having not yet prayed, let him pray with him: it will be a supererogatory prayer for him.Authentic hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (575), at-Tirmidhi (219) and an-Nasa'i (858)
Third opinion: a collective obligation. Prayer in congregation is a collective obligation (fard kifaya): this is the view of the Shafi'is within the school, of some Malikis, and of one position of the Hanbalis transmitted by Ibn Muflih from al-Shaykh Taqi ad-Din, that is, Ibn Taymiyya (Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/81; Bulghat as-Salik, 1/279; Rawdat at-Talibin, 1/339; al-Majmu', 5/38 and 5/236; al-Mubdi', 2/42). They cite the Prophet's words:
No three men in a village or a nomad camp but that the prayer is not established among them without Satan gaining mastery over them; hold fast to the congregation, for the wolf devours only the straying sheep.Hasan hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (547) and an-Nasa'i (847)
The Shafi'is specify: the obligation is discharged once the banner of the congregation appears by its establishment in a place in the village, small or large, or in the city, in places where that banner is manifest. This varies with countries and their inhabitants: in a small village its establishment in one place suffices, and in the great city in several places. In the soundest view, the obligation is not removed by prayers performed in houses, even if groups pray there while the majority abstain.
The minimum that removes the collective obligation from the rest is three persons, or two according to a second position, which is the more apparent; if all of them withhold from establishing it, the imam fights them, for such is the case of collective obligations when paralyzed, and it is the imam who fights them. The obligation is not removed by a group however small: if all refused to establish it by shutting themselves in their houses, without the banner being manifest, the obligation would not be removed, and the imam, or his deputy, would fight them, not each individual man. The same applies if the inhabitants of a district in a great city or a large town abandon it (Rawdat at-Talibin, 1/339; al-Majmu', 5/38 and 5/236; Asna al-Matalib, 1/209; an-Najm al-Wahhaj, 2/325-326; al-Iqna', 1/163; Ujalat al-Muhtaj, 1/294).
As for women, the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis hold that congregational prayer is recommended for them among themselves, apart from the men, whether the imam be a man or a woman, on account of the practice of Aisha and Umm Salamah. Raytah al-Hanafiyyah reports: "Our mother Aisha led us in prayer, and she stood in our midst in the obligatory prayer" (reported by ad-Daraqutni, 1/404, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Kubra, 3/131). Hujayrah bint Husayn reports: "Umm Salamah led us in the asr prayer, and she stood in our midst" (reported by ad-Daraqutni, 1/405, and al-Bayhaqi, 3/131; an-Nawawi authenticated both chains in al-Majmu', 5/255).
The Prophet ordered Umm Waraqah to have a muezzin call the prayer for her, and to lead the people of her house in prayer.Hasan hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (592), Ahmad (9/405) and Ibn Khuzaymah (6/405)
For every prayer in which congregation is recommended for men, it is recommended for women as well, whether obligatory or supererogatory (al-Majmu', 5/254; ash-Sharh al-Kabir of ar-Rafi'i, 4/286; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/456; Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat, 1/260; Matalib Uli an-Nuha, 1/611; Manar as-Sabil, 1/118; al-Awsat, 4/227; al-Ifsah, 1/205).
The Hanafis, for their part, hold that the women's congregation is disliked but sufficient for them: their going out to the congregations, they say, may lead to temptation (Mu'ani al-Athar, 1/488; al-Ikhtiyar, 1/59; al-Majmu', 5/244). As for the Malikis, they prohibit the women's congregation: the imam must be a male, so that a woman's imamate for men, or even for women like herself, is not valid, not even for a supererogatory prayer; it is only valid for a woman to attend the men's congregation when she does not fear temptation (Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 1/356; ash-Sharh as-Saghir, 1/156 and 160; Asah al-Madarik, 1/241; Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/204-205; al-Ifsah, 1/205).
Prayer in congregation is only obligatory upon sane, free men who are able to attend it without hardship. It is therefore not obligatory upon women, children, the insane and those with an excuse. Their prayer in congregation nonetheless remains valid and does constitute a congregation (Mu'ani al-Athar, 1/488; ad-Dusuqi, 1/320; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/229; Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat, 1/244-245).
The jurists agree that the smallest number with which the congregation is formed is two persons, provided they are fully bound by religious duties: the imam and a single person with him suffice to obtain the reward of the congregation. The Prophet said to Malik ibn al-Huwayrith:
When the time of prayer comes, let the two of you make the adhan, then the iqamah, and let the elder of you two lead the prayer.Reported by al-Bukhari (2693) and Muslim (674)
Two persons and more constitute a congregation.Weak hadith, reported by Ibn Majah (972), from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari
This holds in the mosque or outside it, in a house or in the desert, and whether the follower is a man or a woman: whoever leads the prayer for his wife, his daughter or any other woman obtains the reward of the congregation, that of the twenty-five or twenty-seven degrees, and this by consensus. The congregation, indeed, is taken from the meaning of gathering, and the minimum by which gathering is realized is two. The Prophet called two persons a "congregation" without restriction, and the meaning of gathering is realized by each of the two joining the imam (al-Majmu', 5/250; Fath al-Bari of Ibn Rajab, 4/52-53; Mu'ani al-Athar, 1/489; al-Mughni, 2/379-380; al-Ifsah, 1/203; Tarh at-Tathrib, 2/261).
The scholars differed, however, if the follower is a child who has attained discernment: does the congregation form with him in the obligatory prayer or not? As for the child without discernment, the congregation does not form with him by agreement. The Hanafis, the Shafi'is and Ahmad in one report hold that the congregation forms with the child and the reward is obtained: in the Shafi'i view he may validly be an imam, just as he may validly be led by an adult. That is why the Prophet asked, concerning the man who had missed the congregation: "Who will give charity to this man by praying with him?" (authentic hadith reported by Abu Dawud, 574, Ahmad in al-Musnad, 11019, and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, 2398). The Malikis and Ahmad in the second report hold that no reward of the congregation is obtained by following a child in the obligatory prayer: since the child's prayer is supererogatory, the imam is as if he had prayed alone.
In the supererogatory prayer, however, it is valid without dispute and the reward of the congregation is obtained: the Prophet led Ibn Abbas in prayer once when he was a child, and Hudhayfah another time (ash-Sharh al-Kabir, 1/320; at-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 2/83; ash-Sharh as-Saghir, 1/280; al-Mughni, 2/379; Fath al-Bari of Ibn Rajab, 4/252).
The Malikis add a rule concerning the appointed imam: the one designated by the ruler or his deputy, by a pious endowment or by the Muslim community, to lead the prayer in a place prepared for congregational prayer, mosque or otherwise, for the five prayers or part of them. If, at his usual time, he finds no one and prays alone after making the adhan and the iqamah, he is counted as the congregation in merit and in ruling, provided he has the intention of imamate.
His solitary prayer, indeed, is distinguished from his prayer as imam only by the intention: that is why he does not repeat it a second time, and no one establishes the congregation in his place; the one who prayed alone joins him. He may perform a single prayer in case of rain and the like, if he has made the adhan and the iqamah and waited for the people at their usual time, and no one came (ash-Sharh al-Kabir, 1/323; ash-Sharh as-Saghir, 1/282; Minh al-Jalil, 1/356). These rules concern the number of the congregation apart from the Friday and festival prayers; for those two prayers the number differs from one school to another, as will be set out in the rulings of the Friday and festival prayers.
It is permitted to establish prayer in congregation in any pure place, in a house, in the desert or in the mosque, by the Prophet's words:
I have been given five things that no one before me was given. Among them: the earth has been made for me a mosque and a means of purification; whichever man of my community the time of prayer overtakes, let him pray.Reported by al-Bukhari (328) and Muslim (521)
Aisha reports that the Prophet, while ill, prayed in his house sitting, and that some people prayed behind him standing; he signaled to them to sit down (reported by al-Bukhari, 656). He said to two men who had prayed in their camps: "If you pray in your camps and then come upon a congregation, pray with them: it will be a supererogatory prayer for you" (authentic hadith reported by at-Tirmidhi, 219, and an-Nasa'i, 858).
The congregation of the obligatory prayers in the mosque is nonetheless superior to that performed outside the mosque, by the Prophet's words: "Pray, O people, in your houses: the best of prayer is a man's prayer in his house, except the obligatory prayers" (reported by al-Bukhari, 698). The mosque, indeed, combines nobility, purity, the manifestation of the rites and the abundance of the congregation. Praying in the mosques where people are many is superior to praying in those where they are few:
A man's prayer with one man is purer than his prayer alone; his prayer with two men is purer than his prayer with one; and the more numerous it is, the more beloved it is to Allah the Most High.Hasan hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (554) and an-Nasa'i (843)
Ibn Qudamah said: if there stands near a man, or far from him, a mosque in which the congregation forms only through his presence, praying there is preferable, for he gives life to that mosque by establishing the congregation in it and enables those who pray there to obtain that reward. If the congregation already forms there and his purpose would be to break the heart of its imam or its congregation, mending their hearts is preferable. Otherwise, should he aim for the far mosque or the near one? Two reports exist: the far one, to multiply the steps in seeking reward and thereby the good deeds; and the near one, for the neighborly tie gives him greater right to his prayer, just as the neighbor has greater right to a gift and kind treatment than the distant one (al-Mughni, 2/381).
An-Nawawi said: if there are several mosques, it is superior to go to the one with the largest congregation, according to the hadith cited; if a sparsely attended mosque is near him and a more heavily attended one far away, the distant one is preferable, except in two cases. First, if his departure causes the congregation of the near one to be lost, because he is its imam or because the people attend when he does: then the near one is superior. Second, if the imam of the distant one is an innovator, such as a Mu'tazili, or a wrongdoer, or does not affirm the obligation of one of the pillars: then the near one is superior. If the neighborhood mosque has no congregation, and his presence would give rise to neither congregation nor attendees, there is consensus that going to the mosque of the congregation is superior (al-Majmu', 5/252).
If he prays in congregation in his house, that is superior to praying alone in a mosque, according to the previous hadith: the virtue attached to the act of worship itself is superior to the virtue attached to its place or time. If, were he to go to the mosque, his family would pray alone, slacken, or some of them would already be at prayer, while his prayer at home would be in congregation, whereas his prayer in the mosque would be solitary, then his prayer in his house is superior (Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/230; Asna al-Matalib, 1/210).
Ibn Qudamah says further: if the land is a frontier town, it is preferable that the people gather in a single mosque, so that the word may be raised higher, awe be greater, news of the enemy heard by all, consultation easier, and the spy of the disbelievers see their number. Al-Awza'i said: had the matter been mine, I would have ordered the doors of the frontier mosques closed, so that the people would gather in a single mosque (al-Mughni, 1/381).
Prayer in the three mosques, the Sacred Mosque, the Prophet's Mosque and al-Aqsa Mosque, even in small numbers, is superior to congregational prayer elsewhere, even in great numbers. Some Shafi'is even said that praying alone in these three mosques is superior to the congregation performed elsewhere (Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/230).
All that precedes, concerning the superiority of the congregation in the mosque, applies to men. For women, the congregation in the houses is superior for them to the congregation in the mosque, by the Prophet's words:
A woman's prayer in her house is better than her prayer in her chamber, and her prayer in her inner room is better than her prayer in her house.Authentic hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (570) and Ibn Khuzaymah (3/95)
The majority of jurists, Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is, dislike the repetition of the congregation in the mosque of the neighborhood that has an appointed imam and a known community, when the mosque is not deserted: if people enter a mosque whose residents have already prayed, they pray individually. Abu Bakrah reports that the Messenger of Allah, coming for the prayer from one side of Madinah, found that the people had already prayed; he inclined toward his dwelling, gathered his family and prayed with them (hasan hadith reported by at-Tabarani in al-Awsat, 4601; al-Haythami states in al-Majma', 2/45, that it is reported by at-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Awsat with trustworthy narrators).
Had the repetition of the congregation in the mosque been permitted, he would not have left the prayer in the mosque, which is superior. We are moreover commanded to multiply the congregation, and its repetition in a single mosque diminishes it: if people know that the congregation will escape them, they hasten to attend, and the congregation grows; if they know it will not escape them, they delay, and the number of congregations decreases.
This ruling is detailed according to the schools. The Hanafis, for whom the dislike of repetition reaches the degree of prohibition, restrict it to the case where the residents of the neighborhood have prayed in their mosque with adhan and iqamah: if strangers have prayed there first, without adhan or iqamah, the repetition is not disliked. With Abu Yusuf, the dislike applies when the second congregation is numerous; if three or four persons stand in a corner of the mosque and pray in congregation, it is not disliked.
Ibn Abidin transmits from Abu Yusuf: if the second congregation does not have the form of the first prayer, it is not disliked; and the form changes with the abandoning of the mihrab. Muhammad reports that repetition is disliked only if the second congregation comes of a deliberate rallying and gathering (Bada'i as-Sana'i, 1/153; al-Mabsut, 1/135; Ibn Abidin, 1/552-553; Durr al-Hukkam, 1/369; al-Inaya, 15/347; Tuhfat al-Fuqaha, 1/115).
The Malikis say: the appointed imam may gather a second time, that is, form the congregation, in his mosque, if someone else, a muezzin or the like, has gathered before him without his permission; unless he delays greatly, to the point that the waiting harms the people. Likewise if permission was granted him: it is then no longer permitted for him to gather after them, the dislike applying, his right no longer to be taken into account.
When a group enters the mosque after the congregation, it is recommended for them to leave the mosque to gather outside, or with an appointed imam, or in a mosque without an appointed imam, and not to pray individually there, which would deprive them of the reward of the congregation. Except if it is one of the three mosques, the Sacred Mosque, the Prophet's Mosque and al-Aqsa: then they pray individually, given the superiority of solitary prayer in these mosques over congregation elsewhere, if on entering they find the imam has already prayed. If they know before entering, they gather outside and do not enter to pray alone (Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi with ash-Sharh al-Kabir, 1/332; al-Mudawwanah, 1/90; ash-Sharh as-Saghir, 2/30; al-Fawa'ih ad-Dawani, 1/212; at-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 2/113; al-Kafi, 1/51).
The Shafi'is, after establishing the dislike of repeating the congregation in the mosque that has an appointed imam, add: the one who attends and finds only people who have already prayed, it is recommended that one of them pray with him, so that he obtains the reward of the congregation, according to the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri:
A man came when the Prophet had already prayed. He said: is there a man who will give charity to this one by praying with him? A man stood up and prayed with him.Authentic hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (574), at-Tirmidhi (220) and Ahmad (3/5)
This concerns the neighborhood mosque that has an appointed imam. As for the mosque that has none, the market mosque, or those on the people's thoroughfares, there is no dislike for the second congregation, the third, and more: an-Nawawi established this by consensus (al-Majmu', 5/286; see al-Umm, 1/136).
The Hanbalis, for their part, do not dislike the repetition of the congregation in a single mosque, even if it is the neighborhood mosque with an appointed imam. On the contrary, they say that if the neighborhood imam has prayed and another group arrives, it is recommended for them to pray in congregation, by the general sense of the hadith: "prayer in congregation is superior to prayer alone by twenty-five degrees" (reported by al-Bukhari, 619, and Muslim, 650). For the three mosques, however, the repetition of the congregation there is disliked according to Ahmad, lest people slacken in attending the congregation with the appointed imam when it is possible for them to pray in congregation with him.
Ibn Qudamah says: the apparent sense of the reports of Abu Sa'id and Abu Umamah, that is, the previous hadith, indicates that it is not disliked there, for it manifestly took place in the Prophet's Mosque; and the meaning requires it as well, since the reward of the congregation is obtained there as elsewhere (al-Mughni, 2/382; Fath al-Bari of Ibn Rajab, 4/24 and 26; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/457; Matalib Uli an-Nuha, 1/617).
The jurists hold that if the mosque has an appointed imam who has established the prayer, it is not permitted for another imam to establish with him and pray with others at the same moment. Al-Hattab transmits from Abu al-Qasim ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Husayn ibn Abdallah ibn al-Habbab: as for the case where two congregations or more are found in a single mosque, then the prayer is established, and the appointed imam steps forward and prays, while the others sit waiting without any necessity, forgoing the establishment of the prayer with the appointed imam, occupied with supererogatory prayers and conversation until his prayer ends, then the next one stands and the second congregation does the same before praying.
Or again: a single prayer arrives, such as maghrib, and each imam establishes the prayer aloud so that all hear it, the two imams facing one another, their followers mingled in the rows, each hearing the recitation of the other, one bowing while the other rises, and the third prostrating. The community is unanimous that such a prayer is not valid; at the very least it is objectionable.
He says elsewhere: as for establishing a single prayer with two appointed imams, one of the two steps forward, being the one appointed to pray first, while the other congregation and its imam sit waiting until the first has finished, then they establish their prayer. No one has held this, nor can anyone relate such a word from any jurist, in deed or in word. What then of two imams establishing the prayer at the same moment, each saying "Come to prayer", each pronouncing the takbir, the worshippers mingled and each hearing the recitation of the other? They have added to the disagreement of the community's earlier and later generations, and contradicted the Messenger of Allah's words: "Let none of you surpass another in the recitation of the Quran" (authentic hadith reported by Malik in al-Muwatta, 177, Ahmad in al-Musnad, 2/36 and 67, and an-Nasa'i in al-Kubra, 3360 and 8091).
The Messenger of Allah would not accept this from one praying an individual supererogatory prayer in the mosque, nor from a follower praying behind an imam: how would he accept it from two solitary imams? It has no known precedent, ancient or recent. He says further: as for establishing the maghrib and isha prayers of the month of Ramadan at the same moment, no scholar approved of it; all who were asked about it condemned it, and some denounced it unprompted. The imam's permission does not make it licit, as if the imam were to permit the sale of wine or drinking it, or leading a prayer without the Fatiha, or marriage without a guardian.
He mentions that al-Shaykh Abu Bakr at-Tartushi and al-Shaykh Yahya az-Zanati denounced this prayer and never prayed a single rak'ah behind the imam of the Malikis in the Sacred Mosque. The imam of the Malikis at that time was above reproach: Razzin in the days of az-Zanati, and al-Qabsi in the days of at-Tartushi. He reports that scholars of the Malikis and Hanafis, who returned to Makkah in the year 551, denounced the prayer of the four imams following one another in the well-known form; what was expounded to them of the prohibition of this prayer was accepted by them, and he denounced before them its establishment: forbidding it is the madhhab of Malik, al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifah.
Al-Shaykh Abu Ali al-Ghassani said: if the community splits at the iqamah among multiple imams, one prostrating, one bowing, one saying: Allah hears the one who praises Him; no such imam was ever mentioned, nor permitted by anyone after the Prophet, whether his creed was sound or corrupt, traveling or resident, nor even at the height of battle and the press of the ranks for the cause of Allah. There exists no precedent of this to be imitated.
The judge Jamal ad-Din Ibn Zuhayrah was asked about the four imams establishing the maghrib prayer together at one moment; the questioner noted that this never occurred in the time of prophethood, nor of the rightly guided caliphs, nor in the time of the four imams. He answered: the maghrib prayer of the four imams all at once is among the gravest innovations, among the most hideous things that the scholars, early and late, have denounced, rejecting them from their inventors, whether newcomers or residents.
He cites the words of Ibn al-Habbab and al-Ghassani, then says: these two men suffice us in this question, and what the first transmits of the consensus of the community and the words of the imams is sufficient. He reports that a scholar told him he was present, during the pilgrimage of the year 792 in the Sacred Mosque, with al-Shaykh al-Imam al-Allamah Abu Abdallah Ibn Arafah, the scholar of the Maghrib of his time, unanimously recognized for his knowledge, religion and excellence; seeing the gathering of the four imams for the maghrib, he denounced it and said: this is not licit by the consensus of the Muslims; I know of no disagreement among them. Al-Hattab finally reports from his father, when asked about two imams with two congregations in a single prayer and a single time in one mosque: that is not permitted (Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/109 and 112).
The book Kifayat at-Talib ar-Rabbani specifies: the prayer is disliked out of courtesy in any mosque that has an appointed imam to gather the prayer twice in it, before the appointed imam, with him, or after him, for that leads to hatred and quarrels between imams. Al-Adawi says in his gloss: the words "or with him" are weak, according to what al-Shaykh Ali ibn Muhammad al-Jawhari reported: the madhhab is that it is forbidden for anyone to pray while the appointed imam prays, alone or in congregation. Ad-Dusuqi said: if one of them establishes the prayer while the other is praying, there is no dispute over its prohibition (Hashiyat al-Adawi, 1/388; ath-Thamar ad-Dani, 1/157; Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi, 1/332; Bulghat as-Salik, 1/291).
What these scholars established, namely the impermissibility of two congregations at the same time in one mosque, applies when the mosque has an appointed imam, or when the two congregations are deliberate and each knows of the other. Otherwise, if the two congregations form in a mosque without an appointed imam, or are not deliberate, or the mosque is deserted, the scholars have views. Al-Hattab said: if two congregations pray with two imams in one mosque, they have acted badly, but their prayer is valid; he said it in at-Tawdih (Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/112).
Al-Hattab also transmits from al-Burzuli, in his questions on prayer: two congregations praying at the same time with two imams close to one another, each followed by a group, each group doubts whether to follow its imam or the other in what it hears of the takbir and the rest; this is not permitted. The prayer of the one who doubts whether he followed his imam or the other is invalid, even if he is certain he followed his own, because his attention is seized by this undue burden. It is best that one of the two pray before the other if there is room in the time; otherwise, as with maghrib, let them join a single imam and go to the great mosque: do not engage yourself in what you doubt. Al-Hattab specifies: this applies apart from the mosque that has an appointed imam (Mawahib al-Jalil, 2/113).
As for the Shafi'is, ash-Shihab ad-Din ar-Ramli was asked: is it disliked to establish two congregations at one moment in a deserted mosque that has an appointed imam, without his permission or not? He answered: it is not disliked; and all the more so, by analogy, since the dislike of establishing a single congregation before its imam there is negated. The precise formulation: if the mosque has an appointed imam and is not deserted, it is disliked for anyone other than its imam to establish the congregation in it, except after the imam has finished. According to another formulation, it is disliked to establish a congregation in a mosque without its imam's permission, unless it is deserted; and according to Jami al-Mukhtasarat, the congregation with an appointed, frequented holder is disliked, even after him, in the soundest view. The explicit dislike of two simultaneous congregations therefore applies outside the deserted mosque: most of the authors explicitly stated the dislike of the prayer performed before or after the imam, but were silent about simultaneity (Fatawa ar-Ramli, 2/96; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 2/141; Hashiyat al-Jamal, 1/505).
Ibn Uthaymin was asked about the one who establishes a second congregation in the mosque knowing that the first has not finished its prayer: is their prayer counted invalid? He answered: when you arrive and the imam is in the final tashahhud with a congregation, it is better not to begin the prayer before the first congregation finishes, so that two congregations do not form at once. If they did so, at a distance from the first congregation, without disturbing them, there is no harm in it. If both groups are each a second congregation, not deliberate, surprised to find another congregation in the mosque, each congregation must complete its prayer, and no imam should cut it off, even if he is certain the other congregation came first, by the word of Allah: "And do not render your deeds void" (Surah Muhammad, 33).
There is no clear text forbidding two congregations at one moment in this form; rather what indicates the contrary is transmitted: Aisha reports that the people prayed by night in Ramadan in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah scattered in small groups: a man would recite a portion of the Quran, and five or six persons, or fewer or more, would pray according to his prayer (reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad, 6/267, with his wording, and Abu Dawud, 1374; authenticated by al-Albani in Salat at-Tarawih, 1/11). Al-Bukhari (1906) reports from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abd al-Qari that he went out one night of Ramadan with Umar ibn al-Khattab to the mosque, and they found the people scattered, each praying alone or followed by a small group. These two proofs indicate that more than one congregation may coexist in a single mosque; nonetheless, a second congregation must not be deliberately created when a congregation already exists, for that divides the rows.
Standing behind the rows of men is for the woman a commanded sunnah; if she stands in the row of men, that is disliked. But does it annul the prayer of the one standing at her level? The scholars hold two opinions.
First opinion. This is the madhhab of the Hanafis, as well as that of Abu Bakr and Abu Hafs among the companions of Ahmad: if a woman stands in the row of men, her prayer is not corrupted, but she corrupts the prayer of the man on her right, of the man on her left, of the man behind her and of the man beside her. The Hanafis specify: if two women stand in the row of men with other rows behind them, they corrupt the prayer of a man on their right, of a man on their left and of two men behind them. If they are three, the doctors differ: for some, they corrupt the prayer of three men behind them, and no more; for others, they corrupt the prayer of all the men behind them, for three women constitute a full row in themselves (al-Mubdi', 2/84; Tuhfat al-Fuqaha, 1/228; al-Mabsut, 1/192; al-Hidayah, 4/267; al-Ikhtiyar, 3/44; al-Bahr ar-Ra'iq, 1/379; Ibn Abidin, 2/187; Hashiyat al-Adawi, 1/476; Bulghat as-Salik, 1/291; at-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 2/236; al-Muhadhdhab, 1/100; al-Majmu', 5/387-388; al-Mughni, 2/419; Majmu al-Fatawa, 23/395-396; at-Tanqih, 2/12; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/488).
Second opinion. The Malikis, the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis within the school hold that the woman who stands in the row of men corrupts neither her prayer, nor that of the one aligned with her, nor that of the one behind her: were she to stand there outside the prayer she would not annul it, and the same applies during the prayer. It is moreover established that Aisha "used to pass in front of the Prophet while he prayed, when he was prostrating" (authentic hadith, already cited). Ahmad has a report according to which she corrupts the prayer of the one aligned with her: Ibn Muflih reports that Ibn Aqil mentioned a report to that effect, and that the book al-Fusul judges that position the more probable, Ahmad himself having abstained from ruling; al-Shaykh Taqi ad-Din, that is, Ibn Taymiyyah, says it is the explicit text; and it is also said: the one behind her.
Al-Mudawwanah al-Kubrah reports: Ibn al-Qasim was asked: if a woman prays in the midst of the rows, between the men, does that corrupt the prayer of a man in the view of Malik? He said: I do not consider that it corrupts the prayer of a man, nor her own. He was also asked about people who came to the mosque and found the space of the mosque filled with women, while the men, the mosque being full, prayed behind the women according to the prayer of the imam: he said: their prayer is complete and they do not repeat it. Ibn al-Qasim said: that is graver still than the case of the one who prays amid the women (al-Mudawwanah al-Kubrah, 1/106).
The principle in congregational prayer is that those following the imam form aligned rows. The scholars differed, however, if someone prays alone behind the row: is his prayer valid? The majority of jurists, Hanafis, Malikis and Shafi'is, hold the validity of his prayer, with dislike, according to the account of Abu Bakrah: he came upon the Prophet while he was bowing, and bowed before reaching the row; he informed the Prophet of it, who said: "May Allah increase you in zeal; do not repeat" (reported by al-Bukhari, 750).
The Prophet thus validated his following behind the row and did not order him to repeat: if bowing behind the row is permitted, the rest of his prayer is as well, for bowing is a pillar. And if it becomes clear that his neighbor is in a state of major ritual impurity, his prayer is valid by consensus, even though he is solitary behind the row. The hadiths ordering repetition are, if authentic, interpreted as recommendation, in order to reconcile the proofs.
Ibn Abd al-Barr said: the view of the majority of jurists, Malik, al-Shafi'i, ath-Thawri and Abu Hanifah, and of those who follow them, is to permit the prayer of the solitary worshipper behind the row; the hadith of Wabsah has a shaky chain that many hadith scholars do not accept (at-Tamhid, 1/269). Al-Kasani says: the isolation of the follower behind the imam from the row does not prevent the validity of the following according to the majority of scholars.
The hadith scholars, among them Ahmad ibn Hanbal, hold on the contrary that it does prevent it, relying on the hadith: "There is no prayer for the solitary worshipper behind the row", and on the account of Wabsah that the Prophet saw a man praying in a corner of the ground and said: "Repeat your prayer: there is no prayer for the solitary worshipper behind the row". The defenders of validity answer: Anas reports that the Prophet placed behind himself the orphan and Anas, and Anas's mother, Umm Sulaym, behind them; he thus validated their following despite his isolation behind the rows, and the hadith shows that the alignment of a woman corrupts the prayer of the man, since the Prophet placed her behind them despite his prohibition of isolation: he acted thus to preserve their prayers.
Abu Bakrah, indeed, entered the mosque while the Messenger of Allah was bowing; he pronounced the takbir and edged forward on the ground until he joined the rows; when the Prophet finished his prayer, he said: "May Allah increase you in zeal; do not repeat", or: "Do not repeat". The Prophet thus validated his following behind the row, and the proof is that if it becomes clear that his neighbor is in a state of major ritual impurity, his prayer is valid by consensus, even though he is solitary behind the row. The hadith is therefore interpreted as a negation of completeness, and the command to repeat is an aberrant narration.
And even were it established, it could be understood that there was between that man and the imam something preventing the following, the hadith saying "in a corner of the ground", that is, a side. The soundest view, with the hadith scholars themselves, is that he join the row if he finds a gap, then pronounce the takbir, isolation without necessity being disliked; the reason for this dislike is set out in the chapter on disliked acts in the prayer. If the man isolates himself and then walks to join the row, it is related in the fatwas of Muhammad ibn Salamah: if he walks in his prayer the distance of a single row, his prayer is not corrupted; if he walks more, it is corrupted.
Likewise the one who lagged behind, when he rises to make up what he missed and steps forward so as not to pass in front of the people: if he walks the distance of a row, his prayer is not corrupted; more, it is corrupted. This is the choice of the jurist Abu al-Layth, in the mosque as in the desert; if he walks the distance of a row and stops, his prayer is not corrupted. Some measure it by the place of his prostration, others by the distance of two rows; beyond that, his prayer is corrupted (Bada'i as-Sana'i, 1/146; Mu'ani al-Athar, 1/458-459; Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 1/357; Ibn Abidin, 1/570; al-Istidhkar, 2/271, 316-317; Bidayat al-Mujtahid, 1/210; Sharh Ibn Battal, 2/400; at-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 2/131; al-Majmu', 5/389; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/247).
The Hanbalis, for their part, hold that the prayer of the one who prayed a complete rak'ah alone behind the row is not valid, according to the account of Wabsah ibn Ma'bad:
The Messenger of Allah saw a man praying alone behind the row and ordered him to repeat.Authentic hadith, reported by Abu Dawud (682), at-Tirmidhi (230) and Ibn Majah (1004)
Ali ibn Shiblan reports: we set out until we came to the Prophet, pledged him allegiance and prayed behind him; then he prayed another prayer, and when he had finished it, he saw a man praying alone behind the row; the Prophet stopped at him as he was leaving and said: "Repeat your prayer: there is no prayer for the one behind the row" (authentic hadith reported by Ibn Majah, 1003, Ibn Khuzaymah, 3/30, and Ibn Hibban, 5/579). That man's prayer is not valid because he contradicted the standing of the rows, like the one who prays in front of the imam. As for the account of Abu Bakrah, the Prophet said to him: "Do not repeat"; and the prohibition implies invalidity; his excuse in what he did was his ignorance of the prohibition, and ignorance opens the way to pardon (al-Mughni, 2/425; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/490; al-Mubdi', 2/87; Nayl al-Awtar, 2/242).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah was asked about the one who prays alone behind the row: is his prayer valid, and are the hadiths reported on this authentic? He answered: praise be to Allah; the correct position among the sayings of the scholars is that the prayer of the solitary worshipper behind the row is not valid: there are two hadiths of the Prophet in which he ordered the one praying behind the row to repeat, and said: "There is no prayer for the solitary worshipper behind the row". More than one imam of hadith authenticated these two reports, their chains are of the kind upon which argument is built, and those who contradict them rely in many questions on chains weaker than they; nothing in them contradicts the established principles; on the contrary, they are what the famous texts and the recognized rules require.
Congregational prayer, indeed, is named congregation for the worshippers' joining in the act, the place and the time; if they violate the joining of place or time, by preceding the imam or withdrawing far from him without excuse, that is forbidden by the consensus of the imams. Likewise if they are scattered and disordered, one behind another in disarray: that is among the most censured of things. The Muslims were commanded to align; the Prophet ordered them to straighten and adjust the rows, to close the gaps, fill the voids and fill the first row first: all that is an extreme care to realize their joining in the best way.
Were alignment not obligatory, one man behind a single other would be permissible without limit, and everyone knows, as common knowledge, that this is not the prayer of the Muslims. Likewise, were the rows disordered, one preceding another, that is part of what the Prophet's prohibition of is well known, and the prohibition implies forbiddance. Those who oppose this cite the validity of the solitary woman's prayer, according to the authentic account in which Anas and the orphan stood behind the Prophet and the old woman behind them: the scholars agree on the validity of the woman standing alone when there is no other woman in the congregation, as the sunnah established; they also cite the imam standing alone, and the account of Abu Bakrah who bowed before the row and then entered it, and to whom the Prophet said: "May Allah increase you in zeal; do not repeat". But this is a weak proof that does not withstand the proof of the prohibition, for two reasons.
The first: the woman's standing behind the row of men is a commanded sunnah; were she to stand in the row of men, that would be disliked: how then to analogize the prohibited to the commanded? Likewise, the imam's standing in front of the row is the sunnah: how to analogize the commanded to the prohibited? The sound analogy is that of the case the text is silent on to the explicit case; as for analogizing an explicit text to a contrary text, it is void by the consensus of the scholars, like the analogy of riba to sale, whereas Allah has made sale lawful and forbidden riba.
The second: the woman stood behind the row because she had no woman to align with and could not align with the men; had another woman prayed with her, it would have been due to her to stand with her, and she would then have the status of the man who finds nowhere to stand but behind the row. That, however, is disputed among those who annul the solitary worshipper's prayer, and the more apparent is the validity of her prayer in that case, for all the obligations of the prayer fall away through inability. The same reasoning establishes the validity of the prayer of the one who precedes the imam out of necessity, a view within one strand of Ahmad's madhhab. If standing, recitation, completing the bowing and prostration, purification with water and the rest fall away through inability, so too do alignment and refraining from preceding; and likewise for the one who prays without seeing the imam nor the one behind him, while hearing the takbir: the imam is placed in front so that the followers may see him and follow him, which is absent in the follower.
As for the account of Abu Bakrah, it does not state that he prayed alone behind the row before the imam raised his head from bowing: he attained of the commanded alignment what made him one who caught the rak'ah. He is like the one who stands alone, then another comes and aligns with him in the standing: that is licit by the consensus of the imams. His account moreover contains the prohibition "do not repeat", without an order to repeat the rak'ah, unlike the account of the solitary worshipper, in which the Prophet ordered the prayer repeated; and even were it understood that he entered the row after the imam's stillness, as is possible according to one of the two positions in Ahmad's madhhab and others, it would remain licit in that, without an order of repetition.
As for the distinction between the scholar and the ignorant, which is a view within Ahmad's madhhab, it is not admissible: the solitary worshipper did not know the prohibition, and the Prophet ordered him to repeat, just as he ordered the Bedouin at fault in his prayer to repeat (Majmu al-Fatawa, 23/393 and following).
The excuses that exempt from attending prayer in congregation are of two kinds: some are general, others particular. Here are the general excuses.
The proof that these excuses exempt from the congregation is the account of Nafi', from Ibn Umar: he had the prayer called on a night of cold, wind and rain, and concluded his call with: "Know that you may pray in your camps"; then he said: the Messenger of Allah used to order the muezzin, on a cold night or a rainy one while traveling, to say: "Pray in your camps" (reported by al-Bukhari, 606, and Muslim, 697). Jabir reports: we set out on a journey with the Messenger of Allah and it rained; he said: "Let whoever wishes among you pray in his camp" (reported by Muslim, 698).
Abdallah ibn al-Harith reports that Abdallah ibn Abbas said to his muezzin on a rainy day: when you have said "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah", do not say "come to prayer", but say: "Pray in your houses". The people seemed astonished by that; he said: are you astonished by this? One better than I did it. The Friday prayer is an obligation; I disliked imposing on you to walk in the mud and mire.Reported by Muslim (699)
The particular excuses relate to a person's situation. The jurists counted nine: illness, fear, the presence of food, withholding one of the two impurities, an offensive odor, blindness, preparing for travel, the victory of sleep, and the wedding night of a wife.
Illness that makes reaching the mosque for congregational prayer difficult: Ibn Qudamah says this is the view of most people of knowledge. Ibn al-Mundhir says: I know of no disagreement among the scholars that the sick person may neglect the congregational prayers on account of his illness; the Prophet, when ill, neglected the mosque and said: "Order Abu Bakr to pray with the people" (reported by al-Bukhari, 664, and Muslim, 313). An-Nawawi reports from his companions: among the excuses for neglecting the congregation is an illness making the journey burdensome, even if still possible, for it involves harm and hardship: Allah said: "He has not placed upon you in the religion any hardship" (Surah al-Hajj, 78). A light illness that does not make the journey burdensome, such as a toothache, a light headache or a mild fever, is not an excuse; they fixed the measure: that the person suffer hardship comparable to walking in the rain (al-Majmu', 5/261).
Fear, of three kinds: fear for oneself, for one's property, and for one's family. Fear for oneself: fearing an authority that will seize him, an enemy, a thief, a wild beast, an animal, a flood or the like; likewise the fear of a creditor who hounds him while he has nothing to pay him: if he imprisons him, he is an oppressed insolvent debtor; if he is able to pay his debt, it is no excuse. Fear for one's property: fearing a tyrant or a thief, that his house be robbed or burned, wholly or in part, that bread be in the oven or food on the fire and the house catch fire while he is diverted, that a creditor from whom he must not part take his property, or that merchandise or a deposit with someone be lost if he does not reach him: this and its like is an excuse for neglecting the Friday prayer and the congregational prayers. Fear for one's children and family: fearing they will be lost, that his child go missing and he hope to find him then, or that a kinsman die while he is busy elsewhere, without him witnessing his death; likewise caring for a sick stranger, with no one else to care for him, whose loss is feared if he is neglected. Ibn Qudamah reports from Ibn al-Mundhir that it is established that Ibn Umar called upon Sa'id ibn Zayd for help after the forenoon had risen; he came to al-Aqiq and missed the Friday prayer (reported by Abd ar-Razzaq in his Musannaf, 3/240, and Ibn al-Mundhir in al-Awsat, 4/23): this is the view of Ata, al-Hasan, al-Awza'i and al-Shafi'i (al-Mughni, 2/184; al-Majmu', 5/262; Sharh az-Zurqani, 2/66; Hashiyat at-Tahtawi, 1/200).
The presence of food. Ibn Qudamah says: if dinner is served at the time of prayer, it is recommended to begin with dinner before the prayer, so that his heart be free and his body ready; it is not recommended to hasten from his dinner or lunch, since Anas reports from the Prophet:
When dinner is served and the prayer arrives, begin with dinner before you pray maghrib, and do not hasten from your dinners.Reported by al-Bukhari (641) and Muslim (557)
There is no prayer when food is present, nor when one is withholding the two impurities.Reported by al-Bukhari (641) and Muslim (560), from Aisha
There is no difference between fearing to miss the congregation and not fearing it; one version of Anas's hadith says: "When dinner arrives and the prayer is established, begin with dinner"; and Ibn Umar dined while hearing the imam's recitation. Ibn Umar also reports that the Messenger of Allah said: "When the dinner of one of you is served and the prayer is established, let him begin with dinner and not hasten until he has finished it" (reported by al-Bukhari, 642, and Muslim, 559); "the prayer is established" means the congregation. Ahmad's companions specify: dinner only takes precedence over the congregation if the soul strongly craves it; al-Shafi'i said the like; Malik said: let them begin with the prayer, unless the food is light. Umar, his son, Ishaq and Ibn al-Mundhir followed the apparent sense of the hadith; Ibn Abbas said: "we do not rise to prayer while something holds us". Ibn Abd al-Barr reports that they agreed that if one prays despite the presence of food and completes his prayer, it suffices. An-Nawawi adds: the presence of a craved drink, water or other, is like that of food (al-Majmu', 5/261).
Withholding one of the two impurities. An-Nawawi says: these two causes remove the congregation by agreement, as does whatever carries their meaning; withholding wind is like withholding urine or stool (reported by Muslim, 560).
An offensive odor. Whoever has eaten garlic, onion, radish or the like, when its odor cannot be removed, has in that an excuse exempting from the congregation, so as not to harm the people and the angels, according to the hadith:
Whoever has eaten of this plant, garlic; and he said another time: whoever has eaten onion, garlic or leek, let him not approach our mosque: the angels are harmed by what harms the sons of Adam.Reported by Muslim (564)
This applies to these plants in their raw state. Likewise the one whose trade carries a harmful odor, such as the butcher or the oil seller, the maker of wicker, and anyone with a foul smell; and likewise the one with a disease that harms people, such as leprosy or scabies: in all these cases neglecting the congregation is permitted (Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi, 1/390; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/236; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/498; Hashiyat at-Tahtawi, 1/200).
Blindness. The majority of jurists, contrary to Abu Hanifah, hold that the blind man who finds a guide has no excuse to neglect the congregation; if he finds no guide and cannot find the way himself, that is an excuse exempting him. Al-Kasani said: as for the blind man, they agree that if he finds no guide, the congregation is not obligatory upon him; if he finds one, it is not obligatory according to Abu Hanifah, but it is according to Abu Yusuf and Muhammad (Bada'i as-Sana'i, 1/489; Hashiyat at-Tahtawi, 1/200; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/237; Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi, 1/391; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/497).
Preparing for travel. Whoever prepares for a lawful journey with a caravan, and the congregation is established while he fears that attending would make him miss the caravan: it is permitted for him to neglect the congregation (Ibn Abidin, 1/374; Hashiyat at-Tahtawi, 1/201; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/236; al-Mubdi', 2/168; al-Insaf, 2/303; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/606).
The victory of sleep. Whoever is overcome by drowsiness and sleep fears falling asleep while waiting for the congregational prayer: the jurists count this among the excuses; likewise, if sleep overcomes him behind the imam, he may pray alone. Al-Bukhari (5755) and Muslim (465) report that a man prayed with Mu'adh: seeing that he lengthened the prayer, he withdrew and prayed alone, and the Prophet did not blame him. Al-Bahuti says: patience and endurance in repelling sleep and praying in congregation remain superior, because of the reward of the congregation (al-Mughni, 2/184; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/496; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/236).
The wedding night of a wife. The Shafi'is and the Hanbalis hold that the wedding night is an excuse exempting the husband from the congregation, but the Shafi'is restrict it to neglecting the night prayers only. Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari says: on account of the right of the wedding, he does not neglect going out to the congregations nor the other good deeds, such as visiting the sick and attending funerals, for the duration of the wedding, except at night: then he neglects them obligatorily, giving priority to the obligation. Al-Adhra'i says: that is an aberrant position of some Iraqis; the texts of al-Shafi'i and the words of al-Qadi and al-Baghawi establish that night is like day in the recommendation of going out for that: al-Juwayni in his Tabsirah and al-Ghazali in his Khulasah stated it explicitly. The prevailing custom, however, is to add continuous nights to the days of sharing, and that must be taken into account. The nights of sharing, in turn, require fairness between the wives, in going out or not: let him go out on the night of all of them, or not go out at all; if he reserves to some wives the night of going out, he sins (Asna al-Matalib, 3/234; al-Bayan, 9/521; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/236 and 4/421; al-Iqna', 2/432; Kashshaf al-Qina', 1/497).
The Malikis' view on the wedding night. They do not count marriage as an excuse: neither marriage nor settling with a wife exempts from the Friday prayer nor the five prayers; the bride does not neglect the Friday prayer nor the five prayers in congregation, for the wife has no right to keep her husband at her side to the point of exempting his absence from the Friday prayer and the congregation: her presence involves neither hardship nor harm to her, and there is no ground for neglect. Imam Malik nonetheless lightened for the husband the neglect of some congregational prayers, occupied with his wife and with the effort to comfort and appease her: he said: "I do not approve of the groom neglecting the entire prayer", meaning the congregation; it was lightened for him to neglect some of them to attend to his wife and hasten to console and appease her; that apart from the Friday prayer, whose attendance is an obligation (al-Bayan wa-t-Tahsil, 1/357; at-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 2/184; ash-Sharh as-Saghir, 2/92; Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi, 1/391; Tathbir al-Mukhtasar, 1/524).
Ibn Battal reports that Ibn Habib said: he goes out for his needs and his prayers, whether he has married a virgin or a previously married woman, whether or not he has another wife. Ibn Abi Uways reports from Malik, concerning one who is with his wife on the Friday night: does he neglect the Friday prayer? He said: no; the Commander of the Believers al-Mahdi married in Madinah, and he went out for the dawn prayer and others. Ibn al-Qasim reports from Malik, in the school of al-Utbiyyah: the groom does not neglect the Friday prayer nor attending the prayers; that is the view of al-Shafi'i. Sahnun said: some have said he does not go out, and that is her right by the sunnah: this is the view of the one who understands his staying with his wife, virgin or not, as bearing upon the right due her of share and night, which does not prevent him from attending the prayers, just as other husbands apportion among their wives; he has no right to neglect the congregation.
Al-Hattab reports that Ibn Farhun said: they differed: does he go out for prayer and for his needs? The Friday prayer, in any case, is obligatory upon him. Al-Lakhmi chose that he goes out neither for prayer nor for his needs, and Ibn Arafah transmitted it from al-Lakhmi from Ibn Habib: he goes out to attend to his needs and to the mosque; the custom today is that he does not go out, neither for prayer, even if he is alone with her, and the woman is firmly entitled to his staying; I prefer that the custom be followed. That statement is apparent, and the apparent sense of the compiler's words, "whether or not he has another wife", is al-Lakhmi's choice (Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari of Ibn Battal, 7/338; Mawahib al-Jalil, 5/221; Hashiyat ad-Dusuqi, 3/206).
The jurists set conditions for the validity of imamate. The first is Islam: they agree that the imam must be a Muslim, and that prayer behind the disbeliever who displays his disbelief is not valid (Radd al-Muhtar, 1/550; Mu'ani al-Athar, 4908; adh-Dhakhirah, 2/237; Bulghat as-Salik, 1/285; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 1/241; al-Mughni, 2/413; al-Majmu', 5/331).
On the imamate of the wrongdoer (fasiq) they differed. Abu Hanifah, the Malikis according to their soundest view, al-Shafi'i and Ahmad in one report hold the validity of the wrongdoer's imamate with dislike. They cite the hadith: "Pray behind the one who says: there is no god but Allah" (reported by ad-Daraqutni, 2/56; all its chains are very weak: Uthman ibn Abd ar-Rahman az-Zuhri al-Waqqahi is a discarded narrator in it, Nasr ibn al-Harith as-Samit is weak in it according to ad-Daraqutni, and al-Albani said in al-Irwa', 2/305, that all its routes are very weak); for he is a man whose prayer is valid, so that following him is valid like following any other; and the hadith: "Pray behind every righteous and every wicked man" (weak hadith reported by Abu Dawud, 2533, ad-Daraqutni, 2/57, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Kubra, 4/19). Ibn Umar and others prayed behind al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, the most wicked of the people of his time, to the point that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz used to say: were every community to come with its worst, and we brought Abu Muhammad, they would prevail; Abu Muhammad is the kunyah of al-Hajjaj.
The Malikis specify: this applies to the wrongdoer of a carnal act, a fornicator or a drinker, by the general sense of the hadith: "They pray for you: if they do well it is for you; if they err it is for you and against them" (reported by al-Bukhari, 294). Ubaydallah ibn Adi ibn Khiyar entered upon Uthman ibn Affan while he was besieged and said: you are the imam of the people, and what has befallen you we see, while the imam of the fitnah prays for us and we feel shame. Uthman said: "Prayer is the best of deeds: if the people do well, do well with them; if they do ill, avoid their ill" (reported by al-Bukhari, 695). The retained position is the validity of prayer behind him with dislike, so long as his wrongdoing does not touch the prayer; if it does touch it, the prayer is null, as when he aims at pride through the imamate, or deliberately violates a pillar, a condition or a recommendation (Bulghat as-Salik, 1/289; Minh al-Jalil, 1/359).
Al-Kharashi said, concerning the phrase "or a wrongdoer of a carnal act": the apparent view of the earlier Shafi'is is that the prayer of whoever follows a wrongdoer of a carnal act is null, whether his wrongdoing is a major sin not entailing disbelief or a minor one; but Ibn Bazzazah, the glossator, restricted the nullity to the case of major sin, whether it touches the prayer, such as neglecting the prayer or its conditions, or not, such as fornication, backbiting, disobedience to parents, or serving a tyrant. The retained position remains the validity of prayer behind the wrongdoer of a carnal act, as established with Ibn Ghazi and others, as required by the validity of prayer behind the innovator, of whom some credible scholars said he was a disbeliever, though against the soundest view, whereas no credible opinion ever held the disbelief of the wrongdoer of a carnal act, except for the one who abandons prayer according to Ahmad and his followers. Following the wrongdoer of a carnal act remains disliked so long as his wrongdoing does not touch the prayer, such as drinking wine; if it touches it, such as aiming at pride through his elevation, one abstains from following him and the prayer is not valid (Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 2/22-23; Uyun al-Masa'il, 1/138; at-Tabsirah, 1/321; al-Ishraf, 1/372).
Ahmad, according to the more famous of the two transmissions, holds that the wrongdoer's imamate is not valid. It is said in ash-Sharh al-Kabir: the wrongdoer is of two kinds: wrongdoer in creed and wrongdoer in deeds. As for the wrongdoer in creed who displays his innovation, speaks of it and calls to it: his imamate is not valid, and repetition is required of the one who prayed behind him. Ahmad said: one does not pray behind an adherent of passions when he calls to his passions; and: one does not pray behind a calling Murji'ite; the Qadi added: likewise if he is a man of proof who holds them by argument, such as the Mu'tazilah, the Qadarites and the extremist Rafidites, for they become disbelievers through their innovation.
If he does not display his innovation, repetition behind him is the object of two transmissions. According to one, repetition is obligatory, as for the one who displays his innovation, for the hidden disbeliever is like the manifest disbeliever, and likewise the innovator; Ahmad said, according to Abu al-Harith: one does not pray behind a Murji'ite, a Rafidite nor a wrongdoer, unless he fears them: then he prays and repeats; Abu Dawud said: when you pray behind the one who says the Quran is created, repeat. According to the other transmission, prayer behind him is valid: al-Athram said: I asked Abu Abdallah: the Rafidites who speak of what you know? He said: yes, I order repetition. He was told: and likewise the people of innovation? He said: no: some of them keep silent and others speak; and since he said: one does not pray behind the Murji'ite when he calls, it follows that he does not order repetition otherwise.
The basis of the first opinion is Jabir's hadith: "Let no woman lead a man in prayer, nor a wicked man a believer, unless he overpowers him with an authority whose sword and whip are feared" (weak hadith reported by Ibn Majah, 1081, and al-Bayhaqi, 3/90 and 171): this hadith is more specific than the previous one and must therefore take precedence; their general hadith is followed for the Friday and festival prayers, then one repeats. As for the wrongdoer in deeds, such as the fornicator and the drinker of intoxicants, it is reported of Ahmad that one does not pray behind him, according to his words: "Do not pray behind a wicked nor a corrupt man". Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad asked about an imam who said: I will pray Ramadan with you for such and such dirhams; he said: I ask Allah for well-being: who would pray behind that one? It is reported of him: one does not pray behind the one who does not give zakat, nor behind the one who stipulates conditions, but nothing prevents giving him without a condition; this is the choice of Ibn Aqil.
It is also reported of him that prayer behind him is licit: that is the madhhab of al-Shafi'i, by the Prophet's words: "Pray behind the one who says: there is no god but Allah" (weak hadith, already cited); Ibn Umar prayed with al-Hajjaj, al-Hasan and al-Husayn and other companions prayed with Marwan, those who lived under the authority of Ziyad and his son prayed with them, and they prayed behind al-Walid ibn Uqbah though he had drunk wine: that amounts to a consensus. Abu Dharr reports that the Messenger of Allah said to him: "How will you be when rulers delay the prayer from its time, or nullify it from its time? I said: what do you command me? He said: pray the prayer at its time; if you join it with them, pray: it will be a supererogatory prayer for you" (reported by Muslim, 448). The act of those rulers proves their wrongdoing, and since he is a man whose prayer is valid for himself, following him is valid, like following the just one.
The answer to the first opinion: the mentioned hadith; the imamate includes the charge of recitation, whose performance is not guaranteed, nor the fulfillment of some of its conditions, such as purification, with no sign nor reassuring conjecture; the act of the companions is interpreted by fear of the harm of neglecting the prayer with them; and the account of Abu Dharr proves the validity of the prayer as supererogatory: the dispute concerns only the obligatory. The Friday and festival prayers, however, are prayed behind every righteous and every wicked man; Ahmad himself attended them with the Mu'tazilah, as did the scholars of his time. Muhammad ibn an-Nadr was approached by a man saying he had neighbors of deviant passions who did not attend the Friday prayer; he said to him: that suffices you; what do you say of the one who rejects Abu Bakr and Umar? A wicked man. And of the one who rejects the Prophet? He becomes a disbeliever. And of the one who rejects Ali, the most high? Then he swooned; upon waking he said: reject it, by Him than whom there is no other god: He said: "O you who believe, when the call is made for prayer on the day of Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah" (Surah al-Jumu'ah, 9). That prayer is a manifest rite of Islam which only the imams lead: neglecting it behind them tends to neglecting it altogether; it is not repeated behind the one behind whom the others are not repeated; whoever repeats it is an innovator, for it is a commanded prayer whose repetition is not required, unlike the other prayers (ash-Sharh al-Kabir with al-Mughni, 2/408-409; Mu'ani al-Athar, 1/490-491; al-Ifsah, 1/212; Manar as-Sabil, 1/150).
Ibn Rushd said: the cause of their disagreement on the imamate of the wrongdoer is that it is a matter on which the Law is silent, and the analogies contradict one another. The one who holds that wrongdoing does not annul the validity of the prayer, and that the led worshipper needs his imam only for the validity of his prayer, according to the view that the imam bears the follower's sin, permitted the wrongdoer's imamate. The one who analogized the imamate to testimony and suspected the wrongdoer of performing a corrupted prayer, as the witness is suspected of lying, did not permit his imamate. To that goes back the distinction made by some between wrongdoing by interpretation or without interpretation, and between certain wrongdoing or not, for if it is certain, its holder is not excusable in his interpretation (Bidayat al-Mujtahid).