The Book of Mosques and Places of Prayer - Sahih Muslim 649 a

"Prayer said in a congregation is twenty-five degrees more excellent than prayer said by a single person."

Commentary on the Excellence of Congregational Prayer

This noble hadith establishes the immense virtue and superiority of performing the obligatory prayers in congregation over praying individually. The twenty-five-fold reward mentioned is a specific divine favor granted to the Muslim community, demonstrating Allah's mercy in multiplying rewards for collective worship.

Scholars explain that this multiplication applies to the obligatory (fard) prayers, where each rak'ah prayed in congregation carries the reward of twenty-five rak'ahs prayed alone. This extraordinary multiplication serves as a divine incentive to maintain the visible unity of the Muslim community and preserve the public manifestation of Islamic worship.

The wisdom behind this excellence includes: strengthening communal bonds, learning proper prayer methodology from others, displaying the unity of Muslims, providing mutual religious encouragement, and fulfilling the collective obligation of establishing prayer in society. The congregation represents the unity of hearts and purposes in worshipping the One God.

Juridical Rulings and Conditions

The majority of scholars consider congregational prayer for obligatory prayers to be a confirmed sunnah (sunnah mu'akkadah), while some hold it to be a collective obligation (fard kifayah) upon Muslim communities. The twenty-five-fold reward is specifically for prayers performed in the mosque with proper ablution, humility, and concentration.

Valid congregation requires at minimum an imam and one follower. The reward is diminished for those who join late, proportional to the portion of prayer missed. Women receive the same congregational reward when praying in mosques or at home in family congregations.