Congregational Prayers in the Masjed

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ خَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ.

All Praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.

Dear Brothers and Sisters … السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102

O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.

اِنَّمَا یَعْمُرُ مَسٰجِدَ اللّٰهِ مَنْ اٰمَنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَالْیَوْمِ الْاٰخِرِ وَاَقَامَ الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتَی الزَّكٰوةَ وَلَمْ یَخْشَ اِلَّا اللّٰهَ فَعَسٰۤی اُولٰٓىِٕكَ اَنْ یَّكُوْنُوْا مِنَ الْمُهْتَدِیْنَ

9:18 The mosques of Allah are only to be maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and establish prayer and give zakat and do not fear except Allah, for it is expected that those will be of the [rightly] guided.

The disbeliever lives for this worldly life because he either does not believe in the hereafter or his beliefs regarding it are incorrect.  However, the believer lives for the hereafter, and he makes his worldly life serve this aim. Therefore, his life in this world is not for the sake of this worldly life. Rather it is for the hereafter. And even though he enjoys the worldly life through the good things that Allah Almighty has made permissible, it is a vehicle for him to the hereafter. The worldly life is a means, and the aim of the hereafter is in front of him.

And the believer’s belief arises from his certainty in the reality of the worldly life and the reality of the hereafter, that he received from the texts of the Quran and Sunnah. And based on that, the basic principle is that if a there is time or place conflict between a worldly deed and a deed of the hereafter, the deed of the hereafter is given priority over the worldly deed. Because the deed of the hereafter lasts. And the worldly deed vanishes.

Brothers & sisters, the prayer is the greatest pillar after the two testimonies. And performing it in the masjed is the action of the believers. And forsaking it is the action of the hypocrites.

 Abdallah bin Massod (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

مَنْ سَرَّهُ أَنْ يَلْقَى اللهَ غَدًا مُسْلِمًا, فَلْيُحَافِظْ عَلَى هَؤُلَاءِ الصَّلَوَاتِ حَيْثُ يُنَادَى بِهِنَّ, فَإِنَّ اللهَ شَرَعَ لِنَبِيِّكُمْ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- سُنَنَ الْهُدَى, وَإِنَّهُنَّ مَنْ سُنَنَ الْهُدَى, وَلَوْ أَنَّكُمْ صَلَّيْتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ كَمَا يُصَلِّي هَذَا المُتَخَلِّفُ فِي بَيْتِهِ, لَتَرَكْتُمْ سُنَّةَ نَبِيِّكُمْ, وَلَوْ تَرَكْتُمْ سُنَّةَ نَبِيِّكُمْ لَضَلَلْتُمْ, وَمَا مِنْ رَجُلٍ يَتَطَهَّرُ فَيُحْسِنُ الطُّهُورَ, ثُمَّ يَعْمِدُ إِلَى مَسْجِدٍ مِنْ هَذِهِ المَسَاجِدِ, إِلَّا كَتَبَ اللهُ لَهُ بِكُلِّ خَطْوَةٍ يَخْطُوهَا حَسَنَةً, وَيَرْفَعُهُ بِهَا دَرَجَةً, وَيَحُطُّ عَنْهُ بِهَا سَيِّئَةً, وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنَا وَمَا يَتَخَلَّفُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا مُنَافِقٌ مَعْلُومُ النِّفَاقِ, وَلَقَدْ كَانَ الرَّجُلُ يُؤْتَى بِهِ يُهَادَى بَيْنَ الرَّجُلَيْنِ حَتَّى يُقَامَ فِي الصَّفِّ”. رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ.

Whoever would like to meet Allah tomorrow (i.e. on the Day of Judgment) as a Muslim, let him preserve these five (daily) prayers when the call for them is given, for they are part of the ways of guidance, and Allah prescribed the ways of guidance to your Prophet. And if you were to pray in your houses as this man who stays away prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet, and if you were to abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet, you would go astray. And there is no man who purifies himself and does it well, and then walks to a masjed from these masjeds, but for every step that he takes, Allah will record one good deed and raise him in status one degree, and remove one of his sins. And I remember (a time) when no one stayed behind from the prayer except a hypocrite who was known for his hypocrisy. And I have seen a man coming supported by two others until he was set up in the row. Sahih Muslim 654b.

https://sunnah.com/muslim:654b

قَالَ قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنَا وَمَا يَتَخَلَّفُ عَنِ الصَّلاَةِ إِلاَّ مُنَافِقٌ قَدْ عُلِمَ نِفَاقُهُ أَوْ مَرِيضٌ إِنْ كَانَ الْمَرِيضُ لَيَمْشِي بَيْنَ رَجُلَيْنِ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ الصَّلاَةَ – وَقَالَ – إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَّمَنَا سُنَنَ الْهُدَى وَإِنَّ مِنْ سُنَنِ الْهُدَى الصَّلاَةَ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ الَّذِي يُؤَذَّنُ فِيهِ ‏.‏

‘Abdullah (b. Mas’ud) reported: I have seen the time when no one stayed away from prayer except a hypocrite, whose hypocrisy was well known, or a sick man, but if a sick man could walk between two persons (i.e. with the help of two persons with one on each side) he would come to prayer. And (further) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught us the paths of right guidance, among which is prayer in the mosque in which the Adhan is called. Sahih Muslim 654a. https://sunnah.com/muslim:654a

Ibn Masoud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated the prevailing view among the Companions regarding congregational prayer. And that it from the ways of guidance. And this indicates its great importance in that community which was illuminated by the lights of the revelation and prophethood. Just as he (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates their view of the one who forsakes the congregational prayer. And the view of him is that he is on the path of misguidance. And that he could deviate to the darkness of hypocrisy. Because the hypocrites are the ones who forsake the congregational prayer.

And more astonishing than those who abandon the congregational prayer, are those who discourage the people from performing it. They argue for forsaking it by saying that it is not obligatory. And they pay more attention to the sayings of some jurists than they do to the hadiths.

And Allah Almighty described those who establish the masjeds through congregational prayer as stopping their business and trade for its sake. And He praised them for it and he did not choose a different description for them. Allah Almighty said:

رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ القُلُوبُ وَالأَبْصَارُ-النور: 3

An Noor (24) 37: [Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turnabout –

And Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated: That he was in the market and the prayer time was called, so people closed their shops and entered the masjed. Then, Ibn Omar said: Regarding them this verse was revealed:

24:37. Men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah.

Therefore, these are the sayings of the companions, their followers and the followers of their followers regarding interrupting work and business at the time of prayer and proceeding to the masjeds and continuing work and buying and selling after prayer. And this was the way of the state of the Prophet ﷺ and the state of the rightly guided caliphs and those after. And it is a practical consensus of this ummah (nation) on honouring the matter of prayer and cherishing the congregational prayer. And stopping work, buying and selling for the sake of attending it in the Masjed’s.  And performing it with the Muslim congregation.

And experience has shown that if a person misses congregational prayer, then prayer becomes heavy for him. And if he offers it, he does so hastily, And he leaves the sunnah prayer before and after it. And he neglects the associated remembrances due to other matters occupying him from it. In contrast to the one who attends it in the Masjed – For he has prepared for it and freed himself from everything for its sake. So he offers it with a tranquil heart. And he performs its sunnah prayers and remembrances.

Unfortunately Now days attending masjed becomes impossible even on weekend when people sitting home and Masjed are empty, they are keen to take children out why not to masjed – Whole week you ready for work and school and forget about masjed even on Weekend you still preferring worldly matters.

Nowadays the narrative is as Bani Israeel used to say:

ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا۟ لَن تَمَسَّنَا ٱلنَّارُ إِلَّآ أَيَّامًۭا مَّعْدُودَٰتٍۢ ۖ وَغَرَّهُمْ فِى دِينِهِم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَفْتَرُونَ

3:24 That is because they say, “Never will the Fire touch us except for [a few] numbered days,” and [because] they were deluded in their religion by what they were inventing.

More astonishing, that narrative is same. Don’t worry few days in Jahannam lets do little bit Haram and spend a weekend in Jahannam then will go to Jannah. Astaghfirullah

But what the believer say:

وَٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا ٱصْرِفْ عَنَّا عَذَابَ جَهَنَّمَ ۖ إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا

25:65. And those who say, “Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Indeed, its punishment is ever adhering.

إِنَّهَا سَآءَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّۭا وَمُقَامًۭا

25:66. Indeed, it is evil as a settlement and residence.”

And as for occupation with the worldly life, one should know that coming early to congregational prayer is better than the entire worldly life and what it contains. And no matter how much his profits or business increases, they will only be a small part, barely mentionable, of the whole world. So how can he neglect what is better than the world and what is on it for the sake of a small part of it? Allah Almighty said:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللهِ حَقٌّ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا وَلَا يَغُرَّنَّكُمْ بِاللهِ الغَرُورُ-فاطر: 5

Fatir (35) 5: O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver [i.e., Satan].

In the last very famous hadith Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Seven (people) will be shaded by Allah by His Shade on the Day of Resurrection when there will be no shade except His Shade. (They will be), 1. a just ruler, 2. a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, 3. a man who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears, 4. ، وَرَجُلٌ قَلْبُهُ مُعَلَّقٌ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ a man whose heart is attached to mosques (offers his compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque), 5. two men who love each other for Allah’s Sake, 6. a man who is called by a charming lady of noble birth to commit illegal sexual intercourse with her, and he says, ‘I am afraid of Allah,’ and (finally) 7, a man who gives in charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given.” Sahih al-Bukhari 6806. https://sunnah.com/bukhari:6806

On this day when sun will closer to people and they will sweat profusely in proportion to their deeds. For some, the sweat will rise to their ankles, some to their knees, some to their waists, and for some, the sweat will rise up to their mouths. And will be waiting for 50,000 thousand years for waiting for accounting, whereas the believer who will be shaded by Allah, this wait for them like as from Salat ul Zuhr to Salat ul Asr.

We ask Allah Almighty to make us among those whose aim and focus is the hereafter. And make us among those who pray with concentration, humility, and calmness. Indeed, Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon our Prophet as your Lord commanded:

Allahumma Sallai Al’a Muahmmad’n wa’aila Muhammad

أَقُولُ مَا تَسْمَعُونَ وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ  لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ  إِنَّهُ هُوَ الغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ