Choosing between praying alone in the masjid or at home in congregation
10-12-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
What is better: praying alone in the masjid (nobody goes to the masjid in Ramadan for the Maghrib prayer) or praying at home together with your wife?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
If the person has two options, either to pray alone in the masjid or pray in congregation in any given place such as his house, for example, then the scholars held two opinions as to which of the two options is more virtuous:
The first opinion is that it is better for such a person to perform the prayer in congregation in other than the masjid because pursuing the virtues of performing the act of worship in congregation is better than pursuing the virtues of the place where the act of worship is performed. Imaam An-Nawawi 
wrote:
“Attaining a virtue pertaining to the act of worship itself is better than that which pertains to the place where the act of worship is carried out. Rulings on known juridical cases are deduced from this principle, one of which is the case where there is a masjid in which there is no congregational prayer and a congregational prayer is held elsewhere; which is better and more rewardable, to pray alone in the masjid or in congregation elsewhere? In this case, performing the prayer in congregation elsewhere is better and more rewardable than praying alone in the masjid...” [Al-Majmoo’]
The second opinion is that it is better to perform the prayer in the masjid given the generality of the indication of the hadeeth that reads, “...for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the obligatory prayer.” [Muslim] Haashiyat Al-Bujayrimi reads, “It is inferred from the hadeeth that it is better to perform the obligatory prayers individually in the masjid than to perform them in congregation elsewhere. This is a reasonable conclusion...”
Asna Al-Mataalib reads, “Al-Mutawalli wrote, ‘Performing the obligatory prayers individually in the masjid is better than performing them in congregation elsewhere.’”
Some scholars who maintain that attending the congregational prayers in the masjid is obligatory held that the person is obliged to go to the masjid to perform the obligatory prayers, even if individually. Shaykh Ibn Baaz was asked about a person who goes to an abandoned masjid in a remote area to perform prayers individually (alone) therein. He answered:
“It is advisable that he should keep going to this masjid, raise the athaan, and perform the prayers perchance some of the passers-by or the residents of this area would join him. If none joined him and he performed the prayer individually, then it is recommended for him to continue to do so instead of performing the prayers at home because masjids are established for that very purpose (performing the prayers therein). The Muslim is obliged to perform the prayer in the masjid; if he found other worshippers, then let them pray in congregation; otherwise, he may simply perform the prayer alone. It is impermissible to perform the prayers at home while masjids are available.” [Fataawa Noor ʻala Ad-Darb]
It is worth noting that the virtues of going to the masjids are not confined to earning the rewards of attending the congregational prayers; there are other virtues some of which are the following:
- Earning the rewards prepared by Allaah for whoever leaves his house and heads towards the masjid; the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “Allaah will prepare for him who goes to the masjid (every) morning and afternoon (for the congregational prayer) an honorable place in Paradise with good hospitality every time he goes in the morning and afternoon.” [Muslim]
- Having one's rank elevated and one's sin forgiven with each step that he takes towards the masjid; the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “If one of you purifies himself in his house (i.e. performs wudhoo') and goes out to one of the houses of Allaah for the sake of performing an obligatory prayer, then with every step that he takes, his rank is raised by one degree and one sin is remitted from him until he enters the masjid.” [Muslim]
Allaah knows best.