Excellence of Salah (prayer) in Congregation
Al-Kāfi|Volume 3|Book 4|Chapter 49
6ـ حَمَّادٌ عَنْ حَرِيزٍ عَنْ زُرَارَةَ وَالْفُضَيْلِ قَالاَ قُلْنَا لَهُ الصَّلَوَاتُ فِي جَمَاعَةٍ فَرِيضَةٌ هِيَ فَقَالَ الصَّلَوَاتُ فَرِيضَةٌ وَلَيْسَ الاجْتِمَاعُ بِمَفْرُوضٍ فِي الصَّلاَةِ كُلِّهَا وَلَكِنَّهَا سُنَّةٌ وَمَنْ تَرَكَهَا رَغْبَةً عَنْهَا وَعَنْ جَمَاعَةِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ غَيْرِ عِلَّةٍ فَلاَ صَلاَةَ لَهُ.
6. Hammad has narrated from Hariz from Zurarah and al-Fudayl who have said the following: “We once asked him (the Imam), ‘Is Salah (prayer) in congregation obligatory?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Salah (prayer) is obligatory but congregating for it in general is not obligatory; however, it is of the Sunnah. Whoever omits it in disregard and in disregard of the group of believers without good reason, his Salah (prayer) is nothing of value.’”
- Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (15/253)
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 302