Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Some guidance is needed on the following real scenario: A Man wakes up for Fajr (in the UK) prays with ones wife as one knows that going to the Masjid is going to make him very tired for his day at the office as Congregation time is very early. This meets point 2 below but will this fall foul of point 3 if done habitually?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits.
You should first take all reasonable means–such as sleeping earlier, checking their diet, following the sunnas related to sleep, their sleep posture, and so on–to be able to make it to the mosque. There is no harm in taking a nap after praying at the mosque, before getting to work. If you try it for a little while, you’ll get used to it, and your body will adjust to this–though be careful to take the means (such as those above) to give your body its rights, while giving precedence to the rights of Allah.
In of itself, it is permitted to pray in congregation with one’s wife–and one gets the basic reward of congregational prayer, though one misses out on the tremendous rewards of praying in the mosque congregation. [ Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah; I`la’ al-Sunan]
See the following chapters from Imam Nawawi’s Riyad al-Salihin, on the encouragement and emphasis given by Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on group prayer, especially for the Fajr and Isha prayers:
- 191. On the excellence of the Group prayer
- 192. Encouragement to attend the Group Prayers at Subh and ‘Isha’
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani