On Sunday, Dec 7th, the Muslim Community Lobby blog carried the Eid timings for the two main maasajid in the Dublin area, Clonskeagh and South Circular. Amazingly, the announcement for South Circular included two timings, one at 9am and the second at 10:30am. The Sunnah for the Eid salah of course is that it be prayed in an open space (musalla), the seriousness of this issue is highlighted in the following ayah: "And whoever contradicts the Messenger after the guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than the Way of the Believers, We will turn him to what he has chosen and land him in Hell – what an evil destination." [Surah An-Nisaa: 115]. The following ahadith establish the perseverance of the Prophet upon this act:
The First Hadeeth: From Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudree who said: "Allaah's Messenger would go out on the Day of Fitr and Adhaa to the musallaa. The first thing he would begin with would be the prayer. Then he would finish, and stand up facing the people while they were sitting in rows. And so he would admonish them, advise them and order them. So if he wanted an army band to go out, he would dispatch them, and if he wanted to order something, he would order it. Then he would finish. And the people would continue doing this (after him)." Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (2/259-260), Muslim (3/20), An-Nasaa'ee (1/234), Al- Muhaamilee in Kitaab-ul-'Eidayn (vol. 2, no. 86, from my manuscript with my handwriting), Abu Nu'aim in his Mustakhraj (2/10/2), and Al-Bayhaqee in his Sunan (3/280).
The Second Hadeeth: From 'Abdullaah bin 'Umar who said: "He would set out for the musallaa on the Day of 'Eid while carrying a spear ('anazah) in front of him. So when he would reach the musallaa, he would prop it in front of him and pray towards it (i.e. using it as a sutrah). This is since the musallaa would be a vast empty area, which had nothing in it to screen oneself with." Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (1/354), Muslim (2/55), Abu Dawood (1/109), An-Nasaa'ee (1/232), Ibn Maajah (1/392) and Ahmad (no. 6286). The wording here is from Ibn Maajah, which has the most complete (wording), and its chain of narration is authentic. It has also been reported by Al-Muhaamilee (2/no. 26-36), Abul-Qaasim Ash- Shahaamee in Tuhfat-ul-'Eid.
The Third Hadeeth: From Al-Baraa bin 'Aazib who said: "The Prophet went out on the Day of Adhaa to Al-Baqee' [and in another narration: to the musallaa] and prayed two rak'aat. Then he turned and faced us and said: 'Verily, the first of our nusuk on this day of ours is that we begin by praying, then return and perform the sacrifice. So whoever does this, then he has agreed with our Sunnah. And whoever slaughters (his sacrifice) before that (i.e. the prayer), then it is only something he has put forth (in advance) for his family, it is not from the nusuk at all.'" Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (2.372), and the wording is from him. Ahmad (4/282), and Al- Muhaamilee (2/no. 90 and 96) also reported it. The "other narration" mentioned above belongs to them (i.e. Ahmad and Al-Muhaamilee) with a sound chain of narration.
The Fourth Hadeeth: From Ibn 'Abbaas, it was said to him: "Did you witness the 'Eid Prayer with the Prophet?" He replied: "Yes. And if it were not for my place along with the children, I would not have witnessed it. I (was there) to the point when he reached the landmark by the home of Katheer bin as-Salt. So there, he prayed and then gave the sermon. Then he went to the women with Bilaal next to him and admonished them and ordered them to give charity. So I saw the women throwing their hands down and tossing it (i.e. their jewellery) into Bilaal's garment with their hands. Then he and Bilaal would depart to his house." Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (2/373) and the wording is from him, Muslim (2/18-19), Ibn Abee Shaybah (2/3/2), Al-Muhaamilee (no. 38-39), Al-Firyaabee (no. 85 and 93) and Abu Nu'aim in his Mustakhraj (2/8/2-9/1). In his narration, Muslim added the saying of Ibn Juraij: "I said to 'Ataa: 'Is it a duty upon the Imaam nowadays to go to the women after finishing (the khutbah) and admonish them separately?' He said: 'By Allaah, indeed that is a duty binding upon them. What is wrong with them that they don't do that?'
Know O' Muslim that every good comes from following the way of the Prophet, and every innovation is a misguidance and every misguidance is in the Hellfire. From the aforementioned ahadith it has clearly been established that the Prophet prayed the Eid salah in the Musalla, NOT the masjid, what then shall we say of those who have not only forsaken the sunnah but have, as has been reported, prohibited the Eid salah in an open space?
Not content with abandoning the Sunnah, South Circular increases upon their misguidance by announcing TWO Eid salah prayers in the masjid. By abandoning the Sunnah of praying in the Musalla, this masjid found it could not contain all those who wished to pray, so rather than pray in an open space, which would necessarily accommodate everyone – South Circular prayed TWO Eid salah in the masjid! This then falls under the ruling of repeating a congregational prayer in the masjid.
In discussing this, Shaikh Al Albani states: The scholars of Fiqh have differed with regard to the ruling on holding the second congregational prayer. However, before we mention the difference of opinion and clarify which is the most correct of them, we must first identify the type of congregation that they differ on.
The subject of disagreement is with regard to the congregation that is established in a masjid that has a regular employed Imaam and mu'adhin. As for the congregations that are established in any other place, be it in one's home, a masjid built on the road (i.e. musalla) or a store, then there is nothing that prevents one from having repeated congregations in those places.
The scholars who hold the opinion that it is disliked to have numerous congregations in the above type of masjid, the one that has a regular Imaam and a regular mu'adhin, derive their ruling from two evidences. The first is textual and comes from the Divine Legislator, while the other is theoretical and it is a contemplation of the narrations and the wisdom behind the prescription of the prayer in congregation.
As for the textual evidence, then they have investigated and found that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) went throughout his life leading the people in congregational prayer in his masjid. Nevertheless, whenever any individual from his Companions entered the masjid and found that the congregational prayer had finished, he would pray alone and he would not wait (for others to come). Nor would he turn towards his left or right, as the people do today, looking for one or more people so that one of them can pray with them as an Imaam.
The Salaf never used to do any of this. So when one of them would enter the masjid and find that the people had prayed, he would pray by himself. This is what Imaam Ash-Shaafi'ee concluded in his book Al-Umm, and his discussion on this topic is from the moist comprehensive of talks that I have seen from the discussions of the Imaams on this issue, such that he said:
"If a group of people enter a masjid and find that the Imaam has already prayed, then they should pray individually. But if they pray in a congregation, then their prayer is acceptable and correct, however, I hate that they do this for it was not from the customs of the Salaf."
Then he said:
"As for the masjid that is on the highway, which doesn't have a regular employed Imaam and mu'adhin, then there is no harm in holding numerous congregational prayers in it."
Then he said:
"And we have memorized that a group from the Prophet's Companions missed the congregational prayer, so they prayed individually. Even though they had the ability to congregate and pray together a second time, they did not do this because they hated to hold the (same) congregational prayer in the masjid twice."
This is the saying of Imaam Ash-Shaafi'ee. And what he mentioned that the Companions used to pray individually when they would miss the congregational prayer, has been mentioned as a ta'leeq narration in shortened form. And Al-Haafidh Abu Bakr Ibn Abee Shaibah transferred that to his famous book Al-Musannaf. He reported it with a strong chain of narration on the authority of Al-Hasan Al-Basree that when the Companions would miss prayer in congregation, they would pray individually.
Ibn Al-Qaasim related this understanding in his Mudawwanat-ul-Imaam Maalik on a group of the Salaf, such as Naafi' the servant of Ibn 'Umar, Saalim Ibn 'Abdillaah and others, that when they would miss the prayer, they would pray individually and they would not establish the congregation a second time.
Also, Imaam At-Tabaraanee reported in his Mu'jam Al-Kabeer with a good chain of narration from Ibn Mas'ood that he went out one day with two of his companions from his house to the masjid in order to pray in the congregation. But when they got there, they found the people leaving the masjid for they had finished the prayer. So he returned to his home and led them in prayer. So this returning of Ibn Mas'ood – being who he was due to his accompaniment of the Messenger (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) and his knowledge and understanding of Islaam – if he knew the prescription of praying numerous congregations in one masjid, he would have entered with his two companions and prayed in congregation with them. This is since he knew the saying of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam):
"The best prayer of a man is the one he performs in his house, except for the obligatory prayer."
So what was it that prevented Ibn Mas'ood (radi-Allaahu 'anhu) from praying this obligatory prayer in the masjid? – his knowledge that if he prayed it in the masjid, he would have to pray it alone. So he held that if he congregated in his home that would be better than if he and those with him prayed individually by themselves in the masjid.
So this is a collection of the quotes that support the point of view of the majority of the scholars that have disliked numerous congregations held in the described masjid in the manner mentioned previously.
Thereafter, people will not miss finding other evidences, while doing some deduction and precise investigation. Thus, the two Imaams, Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, have reported from the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah (radi-Allaahu 'anhu) that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) said,
"I felt a strong desire to command a man to lead the people in prayer. Then command some men to fetch firewood, then go to the people who have left off praying in congregation and set their houses on fire. By the One in whose hand the soul of Muhammad is, if one of them knew that he would find two good hunted game in the masjid, he would surely come to witness the two."
In this hadeeth, the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) threatened those who refrained from attending the congregational prayer in the masjid with burning them with fire. I believe that this hadeeth alone informs us of the previously mentioned ruling or it informs us of what Imaam Ash-Shaafi'ee has stated and what Ibn Abee Shaibah has related. And that was that the Companions would not repeat the prayer in congregation in the masjid. This is since, if we were to assume that the second and third congregations were legislated in the masjid, then there came this severe threat from Allaah's Messenger (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) to those who refrained from the congregational prayer, which congregation is it that they are refraining from? And for which congregation that they refrained from attending was this severe threat intended?
If it is said: "For the first congregation", then it must said: These other congregations are not legislated. And if it is said: "This severe threat only applies to the one who refrains from every congregation, however many even if their number is continuous. So then in this case, the argument of Allaah's Messenger (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) against anyone of those people who refrained from any of the congregations would not be established at all. This is since if he were to surprise one of them, after having put someone in charge to lead the prayer, by going to his house and finding him spending leisure time with his wife and children. And so he (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) would reprimand him for this, saying: "Why don't you go pray in congregation?" He would simply reply to him: "I will pray with the second or third congregation." So will the Messenger's (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) argument be established against him? Due to this, the Messenger's strong desire to authorize someone to take his place and for him (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) to surprise those who refrained from attending the congregational prayer and burn their houses down, is the greatest proof that there is no second congregation at all. This is with respect to the textual reports that the scholars have relied on for support.
Dear brothers and sisters, as the noble scholar has established, there is no second congregation and those in South Circular have committed a travesty in abandoning an established Sunnah, Hassaan ibn 'Atiyyah (d.120H)- rahimahullaah - said: "No people introduce an innovation into their religion, except that its like from the Sunnah is ripped away from them." There is no Irish, nor a British or Saudi brand of Islam and those who would distort this noble religion to appease the kuffar have sold the hereafter for this dunya. We humbly call South Circular back to the noble Sunnah of the Prophet, we ask them, as Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood radiallaahu 'anhu said: "Follow and do not innovate, for you have been given that which is sufficient [and every innovation is misguidance]."
Further reading:
Praying Eid in the Musalla is Sunnah
Holding A Second Congregational Prayer In The Masjid
Gorey Muslim Community
Mujahid
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