Chapter on the Virtue of Mosques and Prayer Within Them, and the Virtue of Congregational Prayer and Its Rulings

Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad from al-Mu‘alla ibn Muhammad from al-Washsha’ from al-Mufaddal ibn Salih from Jabir from Abu Ja’far عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam al-Baqir عليه السلام said: “Let those who are closest to the imam (of prayer) be those among you who possess understanding and intellect, for if the imam (of prayer) forgets or becomes confused, they can correct him. And the best of the rows is the first one, and the best part of the first row is that which is closest to the imam (of prayer). And the superiority of congregational prayer over the prayer of a man alone is twenty-five degrees in Paradise.”