Does praying in a congregation at home remove the duty to attend the mosque?
2026-10-13
T142 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Original Q&A · Full displayed answer
The answer distinguishes the merit of any congregation from the separate question of attendance at the mosque. Its explicit scholarly disagreement and exception for an excuse are retained.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
عن رجلين تنازعا في «صلاة الفذ» فقال أحدهما: قال ﷺ: «صلاة الجماعة أفضل من صلاة الفذ بخمس وعشرين» وقال الآخر: «متى كانت الجماعة في غير مسجد فهي كصلاة الفذ»؟
الجواب
ليست الجماعة كصلاة الفذ؛ بل الجماعة أفضل، ولو كانت في غير المسجد؛ لكن تنازع العلماء فيمن صلى جماعة في بيته، هل يسقط عنه حضور الجماعة في المسجد؟ أم لا بد من حضور الجماعة في المسجد؟ والذي ينبغي له أن لا يترك حضور الجماعة في المسجد إلا لعذر، كما دلت على ذلك السنن والآثار، والله أعلم.
English translation
English rendering prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic answer. Not an official translation.
Original question
About two men who disputed concerning prayer offered alone. One said that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Congregational prayer is better than prayer offered alone by twenty-five.” The other said, “Whenever a congregation prays outside a mosque, it is like praying alone.”
Answer
Congregational prayer is not like prayer offered alone: it is better, even outside the mosque. Scholars have differed, however, about someone who prays in a congregation at home: does this remove the requirement to attend the congregation in the mosque, or must he still attend the mosque’s congregation? What he should do is attend the congregation in the mosque, unless he has an excuse, as the Sunnah reports and transmitted accounts indicate. Allah knows best.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 23/254–255; King Fahd Complex, Madinah, 1425 AH / 2004
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic transcribed and compared against the cited scan and adjacent context.