As for the prescribed time, it cannot be recovered once lost: when it has passed, the prayer can no longer be performed within it. The analogous case is missing the Friday prayer or a congregational prayer that cannot be attended later. If someone misses the obligatory Friday prayer, he is sinful and must pray Zuhr, since nothing else is possible. Likewise, someone who misses the congregational prayer he is obliged to attend, when no other congregation is available, prays alone. His prayer is valid in this case because he cannot pray in congregation, just as the Zuhr prayer is valid for someone who misses the Friday prayer. The obligation of congregational prayer is no greater than that of Friday prayer.

The issue under discussion concerns someone who prays alone at home without an excuse, after which the congregational prayer begins. According to them, he must attend the congregation, just as someone who prays Zuhr before the Friday prayer must still attend the Friday prayer. They cite as evidence the hadith of Abū Hurayrah in the Sunan collections, reporting that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever hears the call and then fails to respond without an excuse has no prayer.”

This is further supported by the saying:

“There is no prayer for one who lives near the mosque except in the mosque.”

This is well known as a saying of ‘Alī, ‘Ā’ishah, Abū Hurayrah and Ibn ‘Umar. Al-Dāraqutnī also narrated it as traced back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and some hadith masters lent support to that attribution.

They said: Nowhere in the speech of Allah or His Messenger is a negation known to be applied to an act prescribed by religion except because something obligatory within it has been omitted, as in his sayings:

“There is no prayer without the Opening Chapter of the Quran,”

and:

“There is no faith in one who is not trustworthy,”

and other such statements.