SECTION ON PRAYER · 48 – THE EXCELLENCE OF PRAYING IN CONGREGATION
Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, one day led us in the Fajr prayer and said, "Has so-and-so come for the prayer?" They replied, "He has not." He then said, "Has so-and-so come?" They replied, "He has not.”
He said, “Indeed, these two prayers are the most difficult for the hypocrites. If you knew the reward in these two prayers, you would crawl on your knees to reach them. To me, the first row is like the rank of the angels; if you knew the virtue of the first row, you would compete to be in it. The prayer of a person with another person is better than praying alone, and the prayer of two people is better than that of one person, and so on. The larger the congregation, the more beloved it is to Allah.”
From ‘Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Whoever performs the night prayer in congregation, it is as if he has spent half of the night in worship. And whoever performs the night and morning prayers in congregation, it is as if he has spent the entire night in prayer.” [365]