Book of Congregational Prayer
Introduction
...
Book of Congregational Prayer

For the obligatory prayers other than Friday, performing them in congregation is a confirmed sunnah. Another view holds that it is a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah) for men, such that the outward sign of Islam is displayed in every village; if the entire populace refuses to establish it, they may be fought. The recommendation is not as emphatically addressed to women as it is to men, according to the soundest opinion.

I say: the sound, textually established position is that it is a communal obligation; some say it is an individual obligation, and Allah knows best. For anyone other than a woman, praying in the mosque is preferable, and a larger congregation is better—unless the imam is an innovator, or a nearby mosque would be left deserted by one’s absence. Attaining the opening takbīrah is a merit that is secured by commencing one’s own takbīr immediately after the imam’s. Another view says it suffices to catch part of the standing, and another that it is enough to join during the first bowing; the correct position, however, is that one has joined the congregation so long as the imam has not yet given the final salām.

The imam should shorten the prayer while still performing the recommended components and postures, unless a limited group present is content with his lengthening it. It is disliked to draw the prayer out merely so that latecomers may arrive. If, while he is in bowing or in the final tashahhud, someone enters, it is not disliked—according to the more authoritative view—to wait for him, provided the imam does not over-extend the pause and does not differentiate between one newcomer and another.

I say: the school’s position is that waiting for such a person is recommended, and Allah knows best. No waiting is observed in circumstances other than these two. It is recommended for someone praying alone—and likewise for a group whose custom is to pray with a congregation they will still be able to catch—to perform a supererogatory prayer first. According to the newer opinion, and the sounder one, he intends the obligatory prayer in the second performance.

There is no concession to abandon congregational prayer, even if we deem it merely sunnah, except for a general excuse such as rain, a violent night wind, or—according to the correct view—severe mud; or for a specific excuse such as illness, intense heat or cold, evident hunger or thirst, pressing need to relieve oneself, fear of an oppressor for one’s life or property, or the necessity of remaining with an insolvent creditor.