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Fatwa CenterQuran memorizers leaving the congregational prayer
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. I have a question. My question is that we have a problem in our place of prayer, which is that the ones that have memorized the Quran do not want to pray with people. I tried to force one of them by reminding them of the hadith of the prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Those people are making a grave mistake by leaving the congregational prayer. According to the preponderant scholarly view in this regard, it is incumbent on the Muslim man to attend the congregational prayers. Please, refer to fatwa 82264.
You should advise them, remind them of the relevant scholarly view, and clarify for them that it is the right of the Quran which they memorize that they be the keenest of people to act upon its teachings. If they responded to you, then the one who has most knowledge of the Quran should lead the prayer. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “The one most worthy to lead the prayer is the one who is best versed in the Quran.” [Muslim]
If they insisted on not joining the congregational prayers with you, then the one best versed in the Quran among you should lead the prayer, even if he only memorized a small portion of the Quran. The prayer is valid with the Faatihah chapter only. For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 90830.
Lastly, you yourselves should try to memorize the Quran and learn its interpretation.
Allaah knows best.
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