may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded all the Muslims to join it and permitted no one to stay behind except those who stated that they had an excuse, whom he excused on that account. Then, when he returned, Allah exposed the hypocrites’ secrets, stripped away their concealment, and made clear that they had stayed behind without an excuse. Those who stayed behind without an excuse while remaining believers were punished by being shunned—even by their wives—until Allah accepted their repentance.

(If it is said: “Then today you judge those who stay away from congregational prayer to be hypocrites, and permit houses to be burned down upon them if there are no children inside.”

The answer is:

There are acts that are obligatory, yet a person’s interpretation exempts him from the penalty. Today, many believers do not consider congregational prayer obligatory upon them, and so neglect it on the basis of an interpretation. In the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, no one had such an interpretation available to him, because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had directly commanded them to attend.

Furthermore, it is established in the Sahīh and the Sunan collections:

“A blind man asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for permission to pray at home, and he granted it. When the man turned to leave, he called him back and asked, ‘Do you hear the call to prayer?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Then respond to it.’”

Thus, he commanded him to respond when he heard the call. For this reason, Ahmad held congregational prayer to be obligatory upon anyone who hears the call. According to another wording in the Sunan collections:

“Ibn Umm Maktūm said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my home is far away, Medina has many harmful creatures, and I have a guide who is ill-suited to my needs. Can you grant me a concession to