160—‘Ali ibn ‘Umar ibn Ibrahim informed us. He said: Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Attab narrated to us. He said: ‘Ubayd ibn Sharik narrated to us. He said: Nu‘aym—that is, Ibn Hammad—narrated to us. He said: Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Fazari narrated to us. He said: Al-Awza‘i narrated to us, from Hassan ibn ‘Atiyyah, from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Sabit, from ‘Amr ibn Maymun, who said:

Mu‘adh ibn Jabal came to us during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and love for him took hold in my heart. So I remained close to him until I buried him in the earth in Syria. Then I remained close to the most learned of people after him, ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud. One day, the delaying of the prayer beyond its prescribed time was mentioned in his presence ⦗122⦘, so he said: “Perform it in your homes, and make your prayer with them a voluntary prayer.”

‘Amr ibn Maymun said: Ibn Mas‘ud was then asked, “How are we to understand the congregation?” He said to me: “O ‘Amr ibn Maymun, the great mass that departs from the congregation is itself the one that has abandoned the congregation. The congregation is only that which conforms to obedience to Allah, even if you are alone.”