Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear brothers at Islamhelpline!

Assalamoalaikum!

In the name of Allah the Most Merciful, the Most Beneficeint and may his blessing and peace be upon our prophet Muhammad (SAW)

I work in an office and the mosque from my office is on 5 minutes walk. I offer the salat in the mosque but sometime when the workload is great, my officers want me to offer salat in office, can I do that? Moreover some of my colleagues offer Sala-Zuher in congregation in office, should I offer it with them or should I go to mosque? Please reply in detail. May Allah be please with you.

Wassalam

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Is it obligatory to pray in mosque?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Performing the prayers in congregation is a Sunnah Mu'akkadah (preferred Sunnah) of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Ibn 'Umar reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Prayer in congregation is superior to a prayer performed individually by twenty-seven degrees."

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

It would obviously be preferred and best that the believers offer their obligatory prayers in the Mosques; and if that is not possible, then the next best thing is to offer it in congregation with the brothers wherever one is; and if even that is not possible, the absolute last legal option is to offer it alone.

Abu Hurairah also reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "By Him in whose Hand is my soul! I have considered ordering a fire to be kindled and then ask someone to lead the people in salah, and then go to the men [who did not attend the prayer] and burn their houses over them."

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.626 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the 'Isha' prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers at their respective times, they would certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they had to crawl." The Prophet (saw) added, "Certainly I decided to order the Mu'adhdhin (call-maker) to pronounce Iqama and order a man to lead the prayer, and then take a fire flame to burn all those who had not left their houses so far for the prayer, along with their houses."

If one, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, only contemplates on the above words of the Messenger of Allah (saws), about whom Allah Subhanah states in the Quran “We sent you not(O Mohamed (saws)), except as a Mercy to all the worlds” (21:107); one would realize how much importance the Prophet (saws) gave to the congregational prayers being performed in the Mosques.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan