The law and virtue of praying in congregation – Worship is obligatory for someone who adheres to a religion. In Islam, prayer is a worship that must be done by its people. There are 5 obligatory prayers in Islam, namely, Isha, Fajr, Noon, Asr, and Maghrib. Prayers can also be performed individually and in congregation, but they also have a different reward value, namely praying in congregation will get more rewards than praying alone.
Before knowing some of the virtues of praying in congregation, what you need to know first is what are the commands for praying in congregation in the Al-Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet. In this case, there are two views of scholars regarding the law of congregational prayers. According to Jumhur Ulama, it is sunnah muakad, whereas according to Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal, congregational prayers are obligatory.
It should be noted that the Prophet always prayed in congregation and never left it. The Messenger of Allah also gave a stern warning about the obligation to pray in congregation as explained in the story of Imam Bukhari Muslim, viz.
“For the sake of my soul which is in His power, really I am determined to order to collect firewood, then I order a call to prayer to pray and someone to lead the people, then I go to people who do not pray, then I burn their houses”
In addition, in the hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad, Rasulullah SAW said,
“It is not perfect to pray someone who is next door to the mosque except in congregation. In a history, except in the mosque.”
The command to pray in congregation has been stated in the letter At-Taubah verse 18 which says that, “Only those who prosper Allah’s mosques are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day and continue to pray, pay zakat, and fear no other than Allah. .”
In this case, Sinaumedia will discuss the law and the virtues of congregational prayers. To find out more, let’s look at the reviews below!
The Law of Congregational Prayer
It is important for us to know what is the ruling on praying in congregation. There are several rules in holding congregational prayers that you should pay attention to. This congregational prayer can be fardhu ain, fardhu kifayah, sunnah, even haram. The following is an explanation of the law of congregational prayers.
1. Fardhu Ain’s Law
Specifically, the law states that Friday prayers must be performed in congregation, specifically for men. Therefore, if it is not performed in congregation, the prayer will not be valid.
2. Fardhu Kifayah Law
Fardhu kifayah is a collective obligation, that is, when there are people who pray in congregation, the obligations of other people are reduced. And vice versa, if no one prays in congregation then the whole community will get sin.
3. Sunnah Law
Prayers may have sunnah laws that are carried out in congregation, such as Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Istiwa and others.
4. Makruh Law
Congregational prayers can also get makruh if the prayer is carried out by a wicked priest.
5. Mubah Law
Congregational prayers may receive a mubah law, namely regarding prayers that are not obligatory to pray in congregation. Such as Duha prayer and Rawatib prayer or before and after prayer.
6. Law of Khilaful Ula
Khilaful Ula is when there is a difference in intentions between the priest and the congregation. For example, the imam intends to perform the regular prayer instead of making up the qadha, but the next congregation intends to perform the qadha prayer, or vice versa.
7. Haram Law
Congregational prayers are forbidden if they are on land that has been confiscated, or obtained in an unlawful way as a result of which the prayers may become invalid.
The Virtue of Congregational Prayer
Congregational prayers certainly have virtue in it. Here are the virtues in congregational prayers.
1. Get Multiple Rewards
The first priority, of course, we will receive multiple rewards. As previously explained, congregational prayers can give us many rewards. In fact, just doing the prayer, we have been given a reward of 27 times. Not to mention when we do other practices when we pray in congregation.
Especially for certain moments. For example, if the morning prayer is performed in congregation, the reward will be up to 119 rewards. Where this has been stated in the hadith which says, “A person who performs the morning prayer in congregation, that person will get a reward 119 times compared to praying alone.” (Muslim HR).
In addition to the morning prayer, if the evening prayer is performed in congregation, you will receive a greater reward, which is 59 times. This has also been explained in the hadith which says that, “A person who performs the evening prayer in congregation, he will get 59 times the reward.” (Muslim HR).
Of course, not only that, when we are sick and cannot pray in congregation at the mosque and end up doing it at home, the reward we get is the same as the reward for praying in congregation at the mosque.
2. Avoid Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is one of the traits that Allah SWT does not like, even hates. Basically this hypocrisy is a trait that is created intentionally or when a person claims to have followed all the teachings of Islam but he actually rejects it in his heart. This hypocrisy is despicable because it only pretends to worship.
One of the virtues of praying in congregation is that it can prevent hypocrisy. The reason is, when someone prays diligently at the mosque, it reflects that he does not feel burdened when he is going to pray. Someone is said to be a hypocrite if this congregational prayer is not mentioned in the following hadith.
“I have seen that people who leave congregational prayers are only hypocrites. Where he is a pure hypocrite. Because of the danger of leaving the congregational prayer like that, there was someone who was brought in holding on to two people until he could enter the row. (Muslim HR).
Apart from this hadith, there are many other hadiths which explain that one of the attitudes of a hypocrite is not to pray in congregation. For this reason, Muslims, especially men, must always pray in congregation. Of course, more profit and wisdom can be obtained, especially to avoid this hypocrisy with multiple wisdom.
3. Get Prayers from Angels
Who doesn’t want angels to pray for us? The reason is, the prayer of this angel is often granted by Allah SWT. Apparently, when praying in congregation, you will tend to receive prayers from angels. Especially when you are in the front row during congregational prayers. This is explained in the hadith which says that, “Indeed, the Angels give congratulations to those who are in the first row.” (Narrated by Ibn Hibban).
After the hadith came out, then the friends asked again. “Is it also for the people who are in the second row, O Messenger of Allah?” then, the Apostle replied, “Also to the people in the second row.” (Hasan: HR. Ahmad).
4. Get Protection on the Day of Judgment
If someone is always diligent in praying in congregation, especially in the mosque, then he is included in the class and will be protected on the Day of Resurrection. Of course, it is very convenient and will help when judgment day comes. This is also explained in the hadith.
“There are seven groups who will be sheltered on the Day of Resurrection, one of which is someone whose heart is attached to the mosque. A young man whose heart is attached to the mosque, those people will receive Allah’s protection on the Day of Judgment.” (Narrated by Al Bukhari).
5. Forgiven his sins
We know for a fact that we are full of sins and mistakes. But sometimes we even get used to adding sins and not adding deeds that can erase them. Actually there are many simple ways and practices that can be done to erase all existing sins. One of them relates to the primacy of congregational prayers. Thus, we can be blotted out of our sins.
This is explained in a narrated hadith from Uthman bin Affan who said that he once heard the Prophet said that, “Whoever performs ablution for prayer, then completes his ablution, then walks to perform the obligatory prayer, that is, he performs prayer with people or in congregation or pray in the mosque, then Allah will forgive his sins.” (HR. Muslim).
Of course this shows that God is truly good and provides opportunities for his servants. Allah does this to relieve the sins of his servants by atonement for them with other practices. With this, you should make good use of it to erase past sins.
6. Avoid the Torment of the Grave
In Tanbih al Ghafilin which is a saying according to Abu al Lais as Samarkandi, it shows that there are several privileges and virtues in praying in congregation. Some of these privileges include the following.
- Allah will make it easier for him to deal with all the affairs of his life and remove all the burdens of his life;
- Allah will always lift or relieve the torment of the grave;
- Someone who diligently prays in congregation will be facilitated when passing shirat al Mustaqim by using very easy tools such as lightning;
- Allah will enter that person into heaven without reckoning;
Even so, all these privileges must be followed also by how the prayer was established. Is it solemn and sincere? Or just fulfilling the obligation without going into the prayer.
If the prayer can be done as best as possible solely for the sake of pleasing Allah, it is not impossible that the answer will be produced very easily in accordance with Allah’s provisions.
7. Get Wisdom
There are many virtues that accompany the virtues of congregational prayers. Not only are the rewards and various rewards abundant, but there are so many lessons we can take. Of course when we pray in congregation, many lessons can be learned from Islamic symbols, ukhuwah, signs of friendship to tolerance.
From Zain bin Thabit, that the Messenger of Allah said, “The best prayer is the prayer (you) in your house, except fardu prayer.” The words of the Prophet explained that apart from praying fardu, it is better to do it at home. However, specifically for fardu prayers it is more complete if it is done in a congregation at the mosque.
As already mentioned, praying in congregation at the mosque can bring many lessons. The wisdom that will be obtained is as follows.
- Congregational prayers at the mosque can be used as a media for Muslims and a medium for preaching to the wider community and society. In this way, we can educate each other more about Islam and everyone around us will understand it better.
- Most of us are often obsessed with worldly things. Like work, for example, which often makes people less mingle and even less familiar with one another. The wisdom of praying in congregation is of course to establish good friendship or ukhuwah ties with neighbors. That way, our affairs can be made easier because of this good relationship with other people.
- Congregational prayers can make us appreciate differences more. As we know, even though we are all Muslims, sometimes the prayer procedures or movements are different. There could even be other differences based on class, ethnicity, and so on. However, when the two are brought together for congregational prayers, everything appears to be just a little different.
Establishing congregational prayers has many virtues and privileges. Not only do we receive many rewards, but we also receive sins that can be easily erased by God’s provision.
You, this is an article regarding the laws and virtues of congregational prayers . Of course someone who has faith in Islam has believed that praying in congregation is better than praying alone. Of course, if you do that, you will get the advantages as mentioned above.