A questioner (Abdullah) from Indonesia asked, in an audio message, about three matters: (1) People who are left behind after the first congregation has ended setting up a second congregation of their own. (2) Holding a second or third congregation in one and the same mosque after the main congregation. (3) Placing a hand on the shoulder of a man who is praying alone, following him in prayer and thereby making him the imam. Please state the Shariah ruling on these three matters in the light of the Qur'an and Sunnah.

Wa 'alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, dear Abdullah! May Allah the Exalted grant you the best of rewards and bless you with success in religion and in worldly life.

You mentioned three important matters in your audio:

(1) People who are left behind after the first congregation has ended setting up a second congregation of their own.
(2) Holding a second or third congregation in one and the same mosque after the main congregation.
(3) Placing a hand on the shoulder of a man who is praying alone, following him in prayer and thereby making him the imam.

The detailed and satisfying Shariah ruling on these three matters, in the light of the Qur'an, the authentic hadiths and the preponderant position of the jurist-scholars of hadith, is as follows:

First understand the basic principle: the intent of the Shariah is that the prayer in the mosque be performed in a single, united congregation, behind the mosque's appointed imam; congregational prayer is called a “congregation” (jama'ah) precisely because of this gathering and unity. For this reason, in a mosque that has an appointed imam and a regular congregation, it is not permissible to hold a second or third congregation deliberately, as a habit, or under a pre-arranged system. That was not the way of the righteous predecessors, nor is there any evidence for it; it weakens the main congregation, opens the door to division and showing off among the Muslims, and makes people lazy about attending the main congregation. This is precisely the position of the Permanent Committee for Fatwa (al-Lajnah ad-Da'imah), Shaykh Ibn Baz and Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymin, may Allah have mercy on them: Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymin declared it haram to agree beforehand to come after the first congregation and form a separate congregation, and he called a permanent system of two fixed congregations in a mosque (a first and a second, with regular times) an innovation (bid'ah); the Permanent Committee held those who deliberately delay in order to form their own separate congregation deserving of rebuke and disciplinary correction (ta'zir); and Shaykh Ibn Baz emphasised that it is not permissible for a Muslim to stay behind from the congregation deliberately — he must present himself as soon as he hears the adhan.

The other case, however, is entirely different: if a person's congregation is missed for a genuine reason — sleep, travel, some compulsion, or mere incidental delay — and the few people left behind happen to gather together without any prior intention, arranged system or habit, then their praying together in congregation is permissible. According to the Permanent Committee (Fatwa no. 2583), what is prescribed for them is exactly this: to pray together in congregation rather than individually; and Shaykh Ibn Baz held this to be prescribed, in some cases even obligatory, because the evidences for the virtue of the congregation are general. In short: where the matter arises incidentally on the basis of evidence, there is no harm; the prohibition concerns making it a regular habit and system — this is the summary of the scholars' fatwas on this issue and the true methodology.

Its evidence: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:

«أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَبْصَرَ رَجُلًا يُصَلِّي وَحْدَهُ، فَقَالَ: أَلَا رَجُلٌ يَتَصَدَّقُ عَلَى هَذَا فَيُصَلِّيَ مَعَهُ؟»

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw a man praying alone, and said: 'Is there no man who would do this one a charity and pray with him?'” — the man had been left behind after the congregation had ended (Sunan Abi Dawud: 574 — Shaykh al-Albani graded it sahih; the same incident is also narrated with different wording in Jami' al-Tirmidhi: 220, where Imam al-Tirmidhi called this hadith hasan, while Imam al-Hakim declared it sahih and Imam al-Dhahabi agreed with him).

Understand this point well: this hadith in reality applies to that very incidental case — one man had been left alone, and another man joined him; it does not establish the setting up of a regular second-congregation system in the mosque. This is the very caution Shaykh al-Albani gave: in his view, establishing a regular second congregation in a mosque with an appointed imam is not prescribed, whereas this case that arises incidentally, without habit or intent — that is, a man who has already prayed joining the lone man who was left behind — is prescribed, and there is no disagreement about it. Likewise, Imam al-Tirmidhi transmitted that a number of the scholars among the Companions and the Followers, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Imam Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, may Allah have mercy on them, held that those left behind may pray in congregation; and the practice of the Companions is also found to be just this: Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, came to a mosque where the prayer had already been performed, and he had the adhan and iqamah called and led the prayer in congregation (Imam al-Bukhari recorded it in his Sahih in suspended [ta'liq] form, and the report is also established in connected form), and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, when the congregation had left, gathered with 'Alqamah, Masruq and al-Aswad and prayed (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah — its chain is sahih). The sum of all these evidences is that if those left behind incidentally find a congregation, that is commendable, so that they are not deprived of the twenty-seven-fold reward of congregational prayer (Sahih al-Bukhari: 645); but making it the mosque's regular system is not established by any evidence.

Important conditions and cautions: (1) The ruling of a third congregation is the same: if it arises incidentally it is permissible on this same principle, and making a regular series of congregations falls under the same prohibition mentioned above. (2) Setting up a parallel congregation alongside the main congregation while it is taking place is not permissible in any case; according to the Permanent Committee (Fatwa no. 16593), establishing two congregations in one mosque at one and the same time is not correct — the way of the Muslims has always been that in one mosque there is one congregation behind one imam. And those left behind who form their own congregation should not recite or say the takbirs so loudly as to disturb those in the mosque who are engaged in supplication or the sunnah prayers. (3) As for mosques on the roads or for travellers, which have no appointed imam or mu'adhdhin, every arriving group may pray there in congregation without any dislike, for there is no fear of division there at all.

In fairness, let it also be clear that according to Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik and Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on them, repeating the congregation in a mosque with an appointed imam is disliked (makruh) — their evidence is that the righteous predecessors, when the congregation was missed, would generally pray individually (Imam al-Shafi'i, al-Umm), and that repetition brings a lessening of the main congregation and a fear of division; and Shaykh al-Albani inclined to this strictness in this chapter. But all the scholars agree that a regular system and habit is correct according to none of them; and if such a congregation does take place incidentally, the prayer is in any case valid (the Permanent Committee's Fatwa no. 16593 states that a prayer already performed in this way is valid and need not be repeated). Therefore the detail set out above on the basis of evidence is what conforms to the true methodology.

If a man is already praying the obligatory prayer alone, and a man coming from behind stands beside him or behind him (or draws his attention by gently placing a hand on his shoulder) and begins the prayer following him, this act too is fully established from the authentic Sunnah and is permissible. In fact, the original case of the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri mentioned above is precisely this situation — and the Permanent Committee likewise, in the light of this very hadith, held it prescribed that a man who has already prayed should join the one left behind and do him this “charity” (Fatwa no. 2583).

The evidence of Sahih al-Bukhari: 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: “I spent a night at the house of my aunt, Umm al-Mu'minin Maymunah, may Allah be pleased with her. The Prophet ﷺ rose at night and began praying (tahajjud) alone. I got up, performed wudu and stood on his left side. He took hold of my head and placed me on his right side” (Sahih al-Bukhari: 117; the same incident is also mentioned in al-Bukhari: 667 and 728, and in Sahih Muslim: 763).

The legal principle (change of intention): this hadith establishes that a man had already bound the intention of praying alone, but when the later arrival joined him, his status became that of an imam, and his prayer and the follower's prayer both remained valid. This is the preponderant view, which Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah adopted and which is also transmitted from Imam Ahmad; and according to Shaykh Ibn Baz this ruling is the same in both the obligatory and the voluntary prayers, for this incident of the Prophet ﷺ was of a voluntary prayer (tahajjud), whereas in the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri the matter concerned an obligatory prayer.

Some conditions and etiquettes: (a) If the one joining is alone, he stands on the imam's right side — just as the Prophet ﷺ placed Ibn 'Abbas on his right side — and if those joining are two or more, they form a row behind the imam (the incident of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, in Sahih Muslim). (b) No fresh adhan or iqamah is needed for this following; the one joining says the takbir and enters the prayer. (c) If the man praying alone is also praying the same obligatory prayer, the case is entirely clear; and if he is praying a voluntary prayer while the one joining wishes to pray his obligatory prayer, this following is still valid according to the preponderant view, because Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, used to pray 'Isha behind the Prophet ﷺ and then return and lead his own people in prayer (Sahih al-Bukhari: 700).

Hence, if a man is praying alone and another comes and binds his intention behind him, and he leads the prayer onward as imam, there is no harm in this in the Shariah; both will receive the reward of the congregation.

Judge what you are seeing in Indonesia in the light of this very detail: if people there, when the congregation has left, gather incidentally and pray, or a man who has already prayed joins the one left behind, that is exactly in accordance with the authentic hadiths and the fatwas of the scholars. But if anywhere this practice has taken the form of a fixed, regular second or third congregation — with prior arrangement and habit — it does not fall under this permission; your own course of conduct there should be to hold firmly to the mosque's main congregation, and if anyone asks you about the issue, explain this very Shariah detail to them gently.

There is no need to worry: your joining such incidental congregations is entirely correct; the prayer is not invalidated by it — rather, the virtue of the congregation is attained; and the prayers already performed in this way are also valid and do not need to be repeated.

The main effort: the first priority should always be that the prayer be performed with the mosque's main congregation (with the first takbir). But if, due to some excuse, delay or travel, the first congregation is missed, then instead of praying alone, gathering with two or three people there and forming a congregation, or joining a man who is praying alone, is more excellent in accordance with the hadith.

Translated from the original Urdu fatwa.