I was on the verge of ordering that firewood be gathered, then commanding that the call to prayer be made, then appointing a man to lead the people, after which I would go to those men and burn their houses over them.” Agreed upon.

1076 – Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Whoever would love to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim should guard these prayers wherever the call to them is made, for Allah has laid down for your Prophet ﷺ the paths of guidance, and these prayers are among the paths of guidance. If you were to pray in your homes as this one who stays behind prays in his home, you would have abandoned the practice of your Prophet; and were you to abandon the practice of your Prophet, you would go astray. We have seen—and no one stayed away from it except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was well known—that a man would be brought, supported between two men(1) until he was set to stand in the row.” Narrated by Muslim.

In another narration he said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us the paths of guidance, and one of the paths of guidance is to pray in the mosque in which the call to prayer is made.”

1077 – Abu al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “No three people live in a village or a desert place, and the prayer is not established among them, except that Satan has taken hold of them. Keep to the congregation, for the wolf only devours the sheep that strays apart.”(2) Related by Abū Dāwūd with a good chain.

192 – Chapter: Encouragement to attend the congregation for Fajr and ʿIshāʾ

1078 – ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Whoever prays the night prayer (ʿIshāʾ) in congregation, it is as though he has stood for half the night; and whoever prays the dawn prayer (Fajr) in congregation, it is as though he has prayed the whole night.” Narrated by Muslim.