It is not allowed to abandon Prayer in Congregation without a Valid Excuse

It is not allowed to abandon Prayer in Congregation without a Valid Excuse


Question :

I always perform my prayers at their stated times, but I do not go to the mosque for prayer; I offer them at home with my children. Is this permissible for me? And is the reward of prayer in the house like that of prayer in the mosque?


Answer:

It is not permissible for you to abandon prayer in the mosque in congregation, even if you pray with your children at home, because the mosques were built in order that the prayer be performed therein in congregation, and the call to prayer was prescribed, in which the Mu'aththin says: Hayya 'Alas-Salah, which means: Come to prayer here in order to attain success. And when we hear it, it is incumbent upon us to go to it, where the Muslims join together, to be led in prayer by one Imam and learn the prayer which is an obligation upon them, meet other worshippers, exchange greetings of peace, gain the reward of the congregation, learn to love each other and mutually advise each other. And the evidence for the obligation of prayer in congregation is in Allah's Words:

And bow down (in obedience to Allah) with Ar-Raki' un (those who bow down with Muhammad as the Muslims have done).

And His Words:
"And when you proclaim the call to prayer (Athan)... So it is incumbent upon the one to answer who is called to prayer, and this is why the Hadiths state that the threat of punishment for one who does not come to prayer is that his prayer will not be accepted, such as the Hadith which says:
"Whoever heard the call (to prayer) and did not answer it, there is no prayer for him, unless he has an excuse (i.e. due to illness or travel).

And if there was any license (for praying at home), the Prophet would have permitted the blind man whose house was far from the mosque and between which there lay date-palm trees and a ravine, and who had no one to lead him. And those who did not attend the prayer were threatened with the burning of their house over them, except that there were women and children therein. So prayer in congregation is the reason for the existence of the mosques, which are the houses of obedience (to Allah) and the religious gathering places in the Muslim lands, and whose building Allah has permitted, for the purpose of remembering His Name and wherein men praise Him in the morning and the evening, and from which neither business nor selling diverts them.


Source:
Ibn Jibreen
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 2 Pages 385-386

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