The Ruling on forming a Second Congregation by Those Who have missed the Prayer

Question :

Is it allowed for people who arrive late for the congregational prayer and find that the people have already prayed in congregation in the mosque, to form a second congregation, or not? And is there is any contradiction between the Hadith which states:
Who will give charity to this man?

and the saying of Ibn Mas'ud and others: "If we missed the congregational prayer, or the prayer had ended, we used to pray individually." or however he said it may Allah be pleased with him?

Answer:

Whoever came to the mosque and found that the congregation had already prayed with the regular Imam or another Imam, should perform it in congregation with any others like him who have missed the congregational prayer, or one of those who have already prayed should give charity to them (i.e. lead them in prayer), according to the narration of Ahmad in his Musnad and Abu Dawud in his Sunan, on the authority of Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri in which he said that the Messenger of Allah saw a man praying alone and he said:
"Which of you will participate in this?

So a man stood up and prayed with him. This was also narrated by At-Tirmithi, from Abu Sa'id, who said: "A man came after the Messenger of Allah had already prayed and he said:
Which of you will give charity to this man?

So a man stood up and prayed with him. According to At- Tirmithi, this is a Hasan Hadith. It was also narrated by Al- Hakim, who graded it Sahih, and Ath-Thahabi agreed with him. And it was mentioned by Ibn Hazm in Al-Muhalla and he indicated that it is authentic. Abu 'Isa At-Tirmithi said: "And it is the saying of more than one of the Companions and the Tabi'in, who said: "There is no objection to a group performing a second congregation in a mosque where the prayer has already been held." And Ahmad and Ishaq held the same view.

Others said that they should pray individually, including Sufyan, Ibn Al-Mubarak, Malik and Ash-Shafi'i, all of whom held that they should pray individually.

However, they and those who agreed with them, only expressed dislike of this being fearful that it would lead to division and encourage strife, and allow the followers of certain sects an excuse to come late to the prayer so that they might establish a second congregation and pray behind an Imam who agrees with the teachings of their sect and their innovations. Therefore, in order to close this door to division and prevent the people of the sects achieving their evil aims, they said that one should not offer the obligatory prayers in congregation in the mosque after a congregation has prayed with the regular Imam, or in general.

But the first view is the correct one, based upon the aforementioned Hadith and upon the generality of Allah's Words:
So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can.

and the words of the Prophet:
If I order you to do something, then do it, as much as you are able.

And there is no doubt that praying in congregation is a part of fearing Allah and a part of what the Islamic law has ordained, and therefore one must be conscientious in performing it, as much as is possible...and it is not correct to contradict the authentic narrations based upon the opinions of the scholars who disliked the repetition of the congregational prayers in the mosque; rather, it is obligatory to act in accordance with what has been proven by the authentic narrations, and if it is known that an individual or a group of people deliberately come late due to carelessness and they repeatedly do so, or it is known that their sect comes late to the prayer in order to pray with others of their kind, they must be punished in whatever way those in charge deem fit, in order to prevent them and their like among the sects from doing this.

In this way, the door to division will be closed and the aims of the sects will be frustrated, without abandoning acting upon the evidences which prove that it is allowed to perform a second congregation for those who miss the first congregation.