Purpose of the Congregational Prayer

Performance of the prayer in congregation is a great Islamic practice through which equality and justice are made manifest. Here, the ruler and the subject, the old andthe young, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the down-trodden, the influential and the wretched all assemble in rows shoulder to shoulder in front of Allah, the Almighty, with neither differences nor distinctions between them - all of them servants of Allah(subhanahu wa ta'ala). They meet on common ground in the houses of Allah thinking only of Him in humility in due regard to the following verse of the Holy Qur'an: “Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you”(Holy Qur'an 49:13).

Islam is a religion of great social order and when a Community of Muslims in a given area meet at the Congregational Prayers five times each day, then certainly we can imagine the innumerable benefits that could be derived - people knowing each other; people learning each others affairs; people meeting their leaders and community heads; people discussing and solving their day-to-day problems; people cooperating etc. Thus, cohesiveness, unity, love and brotherhood become truly evident among the Muslim community.

In an Islamic state, the head of the state or his representative is supposed to lead the five daily congregational prayers at the central mosque of the capital city as was the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him), in the first Islamic state established at Medina. The leader or head of the Islamic State would, of course, be a person of unquestionable integrity, known to be more knowledgeable than his subjects and above all righteous.

Persons wishing to perform a congregational prayer would choose from amongst themselves an Imam (leader) who has the qualities described above and who would stand in front of the others at the center of the row.

After the second call for the prayer (Iqamah) is performed, the Imam turns towards the congregation and would endeavor to straighten out the row(s) and urge the congregation to stand close to each other as much as possible. These acts were established practices of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as can be noted from the following sayings:

“Straighten your rows and stand close to each other in prayer...” (Reported by Imam Bukhari).

“You shall have to straighten your rows in prayer or else Allah will create differences among you” (Reported by Imam Bukhari).

The Imam, thereafter, starts the prayer with the words of "Takbiiratil Al-Ihraam" as usual and the congregation would follow suit.