What is the ruling on offering prayers in mosques?
Some scholars say offering the five daily prayers in a mosque is obligatory for every Muslim. It is not lawful for a Muslim to pray singly in their home at all! Congregational prayer becomes obligatory to him whenever he hears the call to prayer (Azaan).
Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet said, “Whoever hears the call and does not come, his prayer is not valid, except for those who have an excuse.”
Sunan Ibn Majah 793
Narrated [Abu Hurairah (RA)]: A blind man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to take me to the mosque.” He [the Prophet (ﷺ)] therefore permitted him (to pray at his house), then when the man turned away, the Prophet (ﷺ) called him and asked, “Can you hear the Adhan (call) for prayer?” He answered, “Yes”. He [the Prophet (ﷺ)] said, “Then respond to it.”
[Reported by Muslim].
Bulugh al-Maram
Even a blind man should go to the Masjid, provided he hears the call to prayer.
Another position is that prayers in mosques are representative in nature. Meaning that if some Muslims enliven the mosques by praying there, they have represented other Muslims. It is called كفاية. In such a way, if some offered Salah in the mosque, they have absolved those who prayed in their houses of blame. But where all mosques are deserted, and everybody prays in their homes, then all are blameworthy, as this will lead to the closure of mosques in that area for a particular prayer. So, according to these scholars, offering prayer in congregation is Kifaayah and not Fard Ain, as averred by scholars of the first group.
A third group says offering Salah in congregation in mosques is only an emphatic Sunnah. It is not Fard Kifaayah or Ain. Praying in congregation is only better Tafdulu, as in the Hadeeth quoted above.
Interestingly, all three groups are unanimous that offering Friday prayers in congregation is obligatory for every Muslim who is able. It is not Kifaayah it is Ain. Every Muslim who is sound and not on a journey should be at the mosque for the Friday prayers. Even blind people or those assisted by others, like those in wheelchairs, are not exempted. The Prophet was supported by two of his companions to attend prayers during the days of his sickness.
Who Leads The Salah?
The scholars also spoke on Imaamah (leadership) in prayers; an insane person will not be an Imam; one who is hermaphrodite also will not lead prayers, and a woman, some among the scholars said, will not be an Imam. A child below puberty who has not attained maturity will not be an Imam.
However, there is an exception. All the grown-ups, for instance, the adults who gather, are only bigger in age but not in knowledge. None of them can recite the Qur’an or know about Islam; a boy who is not mature can lead them in Salah.
On the Imamship of a woman, some scholars permit her to lead other women in Salah. The majority of them, however, do not allow it.
Abu Sa’eed narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “When there are three people, let one of them lead the prayer, and the one who is most entitled to lead the prayer is the one who has the most knowledge of the Qur’an.”
Sunan an-Nasa’i 782
“Let the most read among the people lead them in Salah.” This means one who is more learned in the Qur’an and memorises more Surahs. Also, one who knows best the laws governing prayers, and so on.
Enjoining Good And Forbidding Evil
44 Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?
Ta’murun is a continuous tense; you continue to enjoin people to do what is right while you forget yourselves. Some of them found their children following the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, and they did not prevent them; they actually encouraged them to continue.
Anas said that when a young Jew who was a servant of the Prophet became ill, the Prophet went to visit him and, sitting down by his head, said to him, “Accept Islam.” He looked at his father who was beside him, and he said, “Obey Abul Qasim.” So he accepted Islam, and the Prophet went out saying, “Praise be to God who has saved him from hell.”
Bukhari transmitted it.
Mishkat al-Masabih 1574
This Yahudi boy embraced Islam on the instruction of his father and later died. So, his father told him to embrace Islam while he did not – enjoying the right conduct, forgetting himself.
They command people to pay Zakah while they hoard gold and silver. They tell other to obey Allah’s laws while they forge words and attribute them to Allah.
Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and ye study the Scripture?
The scripture is the Torah. How can you forget yourselves in doing what you enjoin others to do when you know what is in the scripture and you study it daily?
This further shows that when one preaches, they should start with themselves. If you start preaching to yourself, you have strengthened yourself in your attempt to preach to another person.
Abu Aswad Addu’aliy composed these verses:
“O man who teaches others
Direct this teaching to your person.
“How do you prescribe medicine for the sick and the distressed?
So that he may be healthy while you are sick
“Start with yourself and prevent it from wrongdoing.
If your heart refrains from it, then you are wise.
“There, you will be excused if you preach and be followed.
“By your saying, submission occurs.
“Do not forbid a person from doing an act, and you do something like it.
“It’s a great shame on you if you do that.”
Among those who will receive the severest of punishment on the Day of Resurrection is a man whom Allah caused not to benefit from his knowledge.
The scholar in Hell will be asked by fellow inmates, “Why are you here when in the world you used to preach to us?”
He will say, “In the world, when I told you to do good, I did not do it, and when I told you to refrain from sin, I was actually committing it.”
You can start with yourself.
When the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam preached the Qur’an, his whole character was the Qur’an itself. When he told people to pray, he offered Salah the best. When he commanded his followers to fast, he fasted more than any of them. When he enjoined them to give Sadaqah, he never spent a night with any amount of money in his house, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam. When he enjoined people to live frugally, there wasn’t a time when his household had dinner for three consecutive nights. They would spend days and nights on end without fire being burnt in his quarters!
When the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, called on people to exert their utmost in various expeditions in defence of this Deen, he was at the forefront. On the Day of Hunain, almost everybody deserted the frontlines, but he remained and gallantly declared:
“I am the Prophet undoubtedly; I am the son of `Abdul Muttalib.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 4316
- Verily in the messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the last Day, and remembereth Allah much. (Al-Ahzaab)
Moreover, the Qur’an teaches that you do not have to be an angel before you preach to others. Sinners should preach to each other to stop their wrongdoing.
- Those of the children of Israel who went astray were cursed by the tongue of David, and of Jesus, son of Mary. That was because they rebelled and used to transgress. (Al-Maa’idah)
- They restrained not one another from the wickedness they did. Verily evil was that they used to do! (Al-Maa’idah)
