Chapter 10 - Congregational Prayer and the Position of Imam

Chapter 10 Congregational Prayer and the Position of Imam

422. ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar : narrated on that Allah’s Messenger said, “The prayer offered in congregation is twenty seven times more superior (in reward) to the prayer performed individually.” Agreed upon.


423. Al-Bukhari and Muslim related on the authority of Abu Hurairah, “twenty five parts.”


424. Al-Bukhari transmitted on the authority of Abu Sa’id, “twenty five degrees.”


425. Abu Hurairah : narrated that Allah’s Messenger said, “By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, I was about to give orders for the collection of fire-wood (fuel) and then order someone to announce the adhan for prayer to be called, and then ask someone to lead the prayer. Then I wanted to go from behind and burn the houses of the men, who do not attend the (obligatory congregational) prayer. By the One in Whose Hand my soul is, if any of them had known that he would get a bone covered with good meat or two (small) pieces of meat in between two ribs, he would have turned up for the ‘Isha prayer.” Agreed upon, and this narration is from Al-Bukhari.


426. Abu Hurairah : narrated that Allah’s Messenger said, “No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the ‘Isha prayers, and if they knew the reward (for observing these two prayers in congregation), they would certainly come to the mosque, even if they had to crawl.” Agreed upon.


427. Abu Hurairah : narrated that a blind a man came to the Prophet and said to him, ‘O Messenger of Allah , I have no one to guide me to the mosque.’ (He was asking for the permission of the Prophet to pray in his house.) The Prophet gave him permission to pray at home, but when he turned to go back, the Prophet called him and said, “Do you hear the Adhan?” The blind man said ‘Yes.’ The Prophet then said, “Then respond to it (by coming to the mosque).” Related by Muslim.


428. Ibn ‘Abbas : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “If anyone hears the Adhan, but does not come to the (congregational) prayer (at the mosque), the prayer he offers will not be accepted unless he has an excuse.” Related by Ibn Majah, Ad-Daraqutni, Ibn Hibban and Al-Hakim.

429. Yazid bin Al-Aswad narrated that he prayed the Fajr prayer with the Prophet When the Messenger of Allah finished the prayer, he discovered that the two men had not prayed with them, so he ordered for them to be brought to him, and they came shaking with fear. The Messenger of Allah said to them, "What prevented you from praying with us?" They said, 'We prayed in our resting places.' the Messenger of Allah then said to them, "If you pray in your resting places and then come upon an Imam who has not yet prayed, then pray with him and it will be considered as a voluntary prayer (nafilah) for you." Related by Ahmad and the wording is his. It was also transmitted by the three Imams and it was graded as sahih by Ibn Hibban and At-Tirmidhi.


430. Abu Hurairah : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, "The Imam is only appointed (to lead the prayer) to be followed. So, when he says the takbir (Allahu Akbar), ا لله اكبر then say the takbir, and do not say the takbir until he says (Allahu Akbar). When he goes into ruku', then make ruku' (after him), and do not go into ruku' until he goes into ruku'. When he says "Sami'al Lahu liman hamidah (Allah hears those who send praises to Him)'سَمِـعَ اللهُ لِمَـنْ حَمِـدَه say Rabbana wa lakal-hamd (O Allah, Our Lord! All praises are for You).'رَبَّنـا وَلَكَ الحَمْـدُ When he goes into sujud (prostration) make sujud (after him) and do no go into sujud until he goes into sujud. When he prays standing pray standing, and when he prays sitting, then all of you should pray sitting." Related by Abu Dawud and the wording is his. This narration is also related by Al--Bukhari and Muslim.


431. Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri : narrated that Allah's Messenger saw a tendency among some of his companions to pray in the back rows. Thereupon he said to them, "Come forward and follow me (in prayer) and let those behind (in the back rows) follow you (as they will know my actions through your actions even if they cannot see me directly)."{1}

{1} This means that those who cannot see or hear the Imam, for being a few rows behind, can follow those in front of them, those in the third row follow the ones in the second and so on.


432. Zaid bin Thabit : narrated, 'The Messenger of Allah made a small room with matting and prayed there (for a few nights during the month of Ramadan). Some of his companions came and started to pray behind him...(the hadith).'{2} This narration has, "the best prayer that a person performs is the one he prays in his house, except for the obligatory one." Agreed upon.

{2} The rest of this hadith is, "he prayed there for a few nights, and so some of his companions came and prayed behind him. When he came to know about it, he stopped coming out (to pray in that room). In the morning, he went out to them and said, "I know what you have been doing, but you should pray in you houses, as the best prayer that a person performs is the one he prays in his house except for the obligatory one." Related by Al-Bukhari.


433. Jabir Ibn 'Abdullah : narrated, 'Mu'adh bin Jabal lead some of his companions in the 'Isha' prayer, but he made it too lengthy (recited long suras). The Prophet then said to him, "Do you want to draw people to fitnah (tribulation, affliction) Mu'adh? When you lead people in prayer, recite "And by the sun and its brightness" (surah ash-Shams no.91), and "Glorify the Name of your Lord" (surah al-A'la no.87), and "Read! in the Name of your Lord, Who has created.." (surah al-'Alaq no.96) and "By the night as it spreads" (surah al-Lail no.92). Agreed upon, and the wording is from Muslim.

434. ‘Aishah : narrated concerning the story when Allah’s Messenger lead the people in prayer when he was sick, she said, ‘He came out and sat on the left of Abu Bakr : and led the people in prayer while he was sitting down and Abu Bakr was standing up. Abu Bakr was following the prayer of the Prophet and people were following the prayer of Abu Bakr.” Agreed upon.

435. Abu Hurairah : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “If any of you leads the people in prayer, he should shorten it (i.e; keep his recital of the Qur’an brief), for amongst them are the young, the aged, the weak, and the ones who have other needs to attend to (after prayer). If one prays by himself, one may prolong (the prayer) as much as he wishes.” Agreed upon.

436. ‘Amro bin Salamah : narrated, ‘My father said: I have come to you from the one who is truly the Messenger of Allah.’ The Messenger of Allah said to them, “When it is time for prayer, then one of you should say the Adhan for prayer, and let the one amongst you who is the most versed in the Qur’an lead you in the prayer.” Amro said, ‘So, they looked for such a person and found none who was more versed in the Qur’an than me, therefore they made me their Imam in prayer and at that time I was only six or seven years old.’ Related by AL-Bukhari, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa’i.

437. Ibn Mas’ud : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “The one who should lead the people in prayer (who has the most right) is the one who is the most versed in the Book of Allah. If they are equal in their recital, then the one who is most knowledgeable in the Sunnah, then it is the one who migrated first. If they are equal in that (i.e. they all migrated at the same time), then the earliest to embrace Islaam –in another narration- the eldest. No man should be an Imam for another man in prayer if the other holds authority (i.e. in a place where this latter has authority in any capacity over the other), or occupy his place of honor in his house without his permission.” Related by Muslim.

438. Jabir : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “A woman should never lead a man in prayer, neither a desert Arab should lead an emigrant nor an immoral man should lead a pious man.” Related by Ibn Majah, but with an extremely weak chain of narrators.

439. Anas : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “Line up close together in rows for prayer, and bring your rows near one another and stand neck to neck.” Related by Abu Dawud and An-Nasa’i, and Ibn Hibban graded it as Sahih.

440. Abu Hurairah : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “The best rows for the men are the first rows and the worst rows for them are the last rows. The best rows for the women are the last rows and the worst for them are the front rows.” Related by Muslim.

441. Ibn ‘Abbas : narrated, ‘One night I prayed with the Messenger of Allah and I stood on his left side. He caught my head from behind and drew me to his right side.” Agreed upon.

442. Anas : narrated, ‘One night an orphan an I prayed behind the Prophet and Um Sulaim (his mother) was standing behind us (forming a row by herself).’ Agreed upon. The wording is from Al-Bukhari.

443. Abu Bakrah : narrated that he reached the Prophet in the mosque while he was performing ruku’ (bowing) in prayer, so Abu Bakrah bowed too before he joined the row. He mentioned this to the Prophet and said to him, “May Allah increase your love for goodness. But do not repeat that act again (bowing before joining the row).”{3} Relate by Al-Bukhari. Abu Dawud added to this narration, ‘He bowed before he reached the row and then walked (bowing) to the row.’

{3} One should not join the prayer until he reaches the row.

444. Wabisah bin Ma’bad : narrated that the Messenger of Allah saw a man praying alone behind the row, so he ordered him to repeat the prayer. Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi and it was rendered Sahih by Ibn Hibban.

445. Talq bin ‘Ali : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, "Nobody should pray alone behind the row.” Related by Ibn hibban. At-Tabarani added in the hadith of Wabisah, “couldn’t you have joined them or pulled a man to be with you and form a row?"


446. Abu Hurairah : narrated that the Prophet said, “When you hear the Iqamah, proceed to the prayer with calmness and dignity and do not rush. Pray what you can (with the congregation) and complete what you miss.” Agreed upon.


447. Ubay bin ka’b : narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “A man’s prayer performed along with another man (i.e. congregation) is better than his prayer on his own, and his prayer with two men is better than his prayer along with (just) another man. But if there are more people it would be more pleasing to Allah, the Almighty.” Related by abu Dawud and An-Nasa’i and Ibn Hibban graded it as sahih.


448. Umm Waraqah : narrated that the Messenger of Allah instructed her to lead the women of her household (in the obligatory prayer). Related by Abu Dawud and Ibn Khuzaimah graded it as sahih.

449. Anas : ‘The Messenger of Allah appointed Ibn Umm Maktum to lead the people in prayer and he was blind.’ Related by Ahmad and Abu Dawud.


450. Ibn Hibban narrated a similar narration on the authority of ‘Aishah :


451. Ibn ‘Umar : narrated the Messenger of Allah said, “Offer the funeral prayer for the one who says (i.e. believes) “There is none worthy of worship but Allah,” and pray behind (take him as your Imam) the one who says (believes) “There is none worthy of worship but Allah.” Related by Ad-Daraqutni with a weak chain of narrators.


452. ‘Ali : narrated that the Messenger of Allah :saws said, “When any of you comes to the prayer and the Imam is in a certain position (in prayer) he must do what the Imam is doing.” Related by At-Tirmidhi with a weak chain of narrators, (its chain of transmitter is disconnected).