—the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—and they could only have learned this ruling from the Prophet ﷺ himself. It is obvious that any practice from which only a hypocrite would abstain must be an individual obligation.
Imam Aḥmad and others relate a marfūʿ ḥadīth: “Utter roughness—indeed, sheer roughness—and unbelief and hypocrisy are the lot of one who hears the caller to prayer yet does not answer him.”
A sound narration also states, “Allah’s hand is over the congregation; whoever breaks away will break away into the Fire.”
Ibn ʿAbbās was asked about a man who spends the night in prayer and the day in fasting but does not attend the congregational prayer; he replied, “He is in the Fire.”
We ask Allah for safety and success in recognizing the truth and following it. He is indeed the All-Hearing, the One who responds.
Ruling on the person who stays away from the congregational prayer, and the minimum by which a congregation is established:
If someone misses the congregational prayer and then performs it alone, his situation falls into one of two categories.
- He has a valid excuse—such as illness or fear—and would not normally stay away were it not for that excuse. In this case he is granted the full reward of one who prayed in congregation, for the sound ḥadīth says: “When a servant falls ill or travels, the reward of whatever deeds he used to perform while healthy and resident is recorded for him.”