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i live in a Westren non-islamic country, where masjids are far away from me and i cannot travel long distance to do my prayers in Jama'aat . according to the verse of Holy Quran "WARKUU MA'RAKEEN" translation "prostrate with prostrators" now there are so many Fiq'a and different Imams, i particularly do not follow any specific one. i only follow Quran and Sunnah. i heard in from one of the youtube channel Islamic conference that praying in JAMA"AAT is FARZ meaning obligatory according to the referred verse of Quran. i would appreciate your interpretation on this Prayers in Jama'aat. is it obligatory and what if i am not praying in Jama'at and i do it at home or at work by myself?

Medi1Saif
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Nasser
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  • Somewhat related posts: http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/24012/is-it-possible-to-pray-in-jamat-two-with-only-wife/31162#31162, http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/30642/will-my-salah-be-accepted-if-i-pray-at-home/30662#30662 – Medi1Saif Jun 23 '16 at 12:46

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Salam brother, you say that you do not follow any Imam but you seem to be following YouTube. I would really be careful about what I hear online because anybody can post anything. You really need to check what you hear with scholars you know and trust.

That being said, here is my answer to your question and please feel free to check it. From my limited knowledge, the majority of classical Sunni scholars have said the 5 daily prayers are NOT obligatory to be performed in congregation even if you live close to a masjid. Only the Friday (Jummah) prayer is obligatory to be made in a masjid with the congregation. The Shafi school which I follow says its Fard Kiffiyah, meaning as long as someone in your community does it, you don't have to.

Any you also have to remember these scholars said these opinions in a place and time when praying in the masjid was much easier than today for most of us (especially those living in the West).

Now of course it is better and more rewarding to pray in the masjid, and if you can't make it to the masjid, it is more rewarding to pray in a group if you can make one at home with your family or in the office with any Muslim co-workers. But if you can't make it in a group then please pray by yourself (be it at the home or in the office). What is most important is that the Salah is established and Allah is remembered.

And Allah Knows best.

AbuMariam
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  • Do you have any source to back up the claim that most scholars said the 5 fards prayers are not obligatory to be performed in jamaa'a? –  Jun 17 '16 at 18:52
  • google for a book named "The Distinguished Jurist's Primer" and look up the section on the group prayer. This is a classical book on fiqh which has been translated into English. – AbuMariam Jun 18 '16 at 03:37
  • Are you saying Jumuah is fard kiffayah? Then that's wrong as jumuah is fardu 'ayn for male Muslims. – Medi1Saif Jun 23 '16 at 12:44
  • Jummah is fard ayn, the 5 salah is fard kiffiyah in the Shafi school and Sunnah is most other schools. Allah knows best. – AbuMariam Feb 04 '17 at 23:47
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The only salat that you must do in the mosque is Salaat al Jumou'a (unless you're traveling or live at a great distance from the closest mosque)

Salat al Jamaa'a is when you're praying with at least one other prayer, and it's appreciated each time you can achieve it, but is not mandatory. But then again, you're not forced to be in a mosque to do a Jamaa'a : there's no harm to do it at home or at work.

Hope it helped !

Koblenz
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    can you provide evidence for this opinion please. – M.M Jun 16 '16 at 23:45
  • @M.M of which part exactly ? – Koblenz Jun 17 '16 at 00:18
  • this part "The only salat that you must do in the mosque is Salaat al Jumou'a" – M.M Jun 17 '16 at 00:28
  • « O believers ! when the call for prayer is made on Friday, hasten to mention God and leave off business. That is best for you if you but knew (9) When the prayer has ended, disperse throughout the land and seek the bounty of God.»

    Al Joumou'a, Verse 9.

    Joumou'a means Friday in arabic,

     – Koblenz Jun 17 '16 at 12:10
  • On no, I'm sorry, don't get me wrong. I was responding to the question and I meant that only Salat al Jumu'a have to be obligatorily done in a mosque. Of course, the five salawat are mandatory, but you can do them outside the mosque, as for Salat al Jamaa'a. Is it what you were asking ? – Koblenz Jun 17 '16 at 16:02
  • What I uderstand from your answer that(In General) doing the prayers (other than Jumaa) can be at home and not obligatory to be at Masjid, but the hadith I referenced states they should not be praying at home without a reason such as illness, so I asked how you join both? – M.M Jun 17 '16 at 16:08
  • I don't see this reference at all in this hadith !!! In which sentence do you see that ? – Koblenz Jun 17 '16 at 18:23
  • I'm sorry the URL I pasted was incomplete two digits were missed, this is the correct one http://sunnah.com/abudawud/2/159 – M.M Jun 17 '16 at 19:04
  • Ok, I did,'t knew this hadith, but I made some researches and... anyway, there's lot of Oulamas' opinions on this hadith, some of them say that is Sunna mouakada, others that it could only concerns Salat al Fadjr and Salat el Icha and there's a lot more explanations (too much for a comment) — All I can add is it would be difficult in nowadays life to do the five prayers in a mosque (because of work for example etc.) – Koblenz Jun 17 '16 at 21:27