Top 7 Virtues of Salat Al-Jamaah: Why Congregational Prayer Matters

Hi! Are you looking for an explanation of the virtues of salat al-Jama'ah? If your answer is "Yes," congratulations! You are now reading the right article. Why? Because that is what I will explain here. As Muslims, it is essential for us to understand this, so I encourage you to read it until the end.

Before I delve deeper into the virtues of salat al-Jama'ah, I first want to clarify that salat al-Jama'ah is a prayer performed with other Muslims. Salat al-Jama'ah is one of the ways to pray in Islam. It can be performed for obligatory prayers (Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha) as well as for sunnah prayers (Dhuha, Taraweeh, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adhah, and so on).

There are three important aspects of the virtue of salat al-Jama'ah that I will explain in this article. These three aspects are as follows:

What Is Salat Al-Jama'ah in Arabic?

The first important point about the virtues of salat al-Jama'ah that I will discuss now is "What is salat al-Jama'ah in Arabic?" Specifically, I will explain the literal meaning of the phrase "salat al-Jama'ah." I want you to grasp this before reading further so you can have a comprehensive understanding of our current discussion.

The phrase "Salat al-Jama'ah" is an Arabic-Islamic term. Its written form in Arabic is صَلَاةُ الْجَمَاعَةِ. The phrase consists of two words: salat (صَلَاةُ) and al-Jama'ah (الْجَمَاعَةِ). The meaning of the word salat (صَلَاةُ) is "prayer," while the meaning of the word al-Jama'ah (الْجَمَاعَةِ) is "a group of people." Therefore, the meaning of the phrase "salat al-Jama'ah" in Arabic is "prayer that is performed together."

Read Also: Qabliyah and Badiyah Prayers

There are two important elements in the al-Jama'ah prayer (صَلَاةُ الْجَمَاعَةِ) that we should not forget. The first element is the Imam, who is the person leading the prayer. The second element is the Makmum, who is the person being led. In al-Jama'ah prayer, there is only one Imam, while the number of Makmum can be one person, two people, three people, and so on (the more, the better).

That is a brief explanation of "What is salat al-Jama'ah in Arabic?" As Muslims, we must understand this.

Hadith About Salat al-Jama'ah

The second important aspect of the virtue of salat al-Jama'ah that I will discuss now is the hadith about salat al-Jama'ah. I want you to grasp this so you understand the significance of salat al-Jama'ah.

Actually, there are many hadiths about salat al-Jama'ah. Of course, I will not quote them all here; I will quote only one.

One hadith about salat al-Jama'ah is as follows:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عُمَرٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا أَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ ؛ صَلَاةُ الْجَمَاعَةِ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ صَلَاةِ الْفَذِّ بِسَبْعٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ دَرَجَةً . مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ . وَلَهُمَا عَنْ أَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ ؛ بِخَمْسٍ وَعِشْرِيْنَ جُزْءًا

From Abdullah bin Umar radliyallahu anhuma, it is reported that the Messenger of Allah sallaallahu alaihi wa sallam said, "Salat al-Jama'ah (Congregational prayer) is more virtuous than praying alone by approximately twenty-seven degrees." This hadith is narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim. They also have another narration from Abu Hurairah, stating "approximately twenty-five degrees."

That's the hadith about salat al-Jama'ah. As Muslims, we must understand this.

The Virtues of Salat al-Jama'ah

The third important aspect of the virtues of salat al-Jama'ah that I will explain now is some of its virtues. This explanation is one of the main focuses of the article, so I hope you understand its significance.

Salat al-Jama'ah has many virtues. Of course, I won't explain all of them here; in this article, I will describe seven of them. The seven virtues of salat al-Jama'ah are as follows:

1. The Muslim who performs salat al-Jama'ah will receive the shade of Allah on the Day of Judgment because their heart always longs for the mosque.
2. The virtues of salat al-Jama'ah far exceed those of salat alone, with a difference of 27 to 1 or 25 to 1.
3. The angels pray for the Muslim who performs the al-Jama'ah prayer, asking for their well-being.
4. Every step taken to perform salat al-Jama'ah counts as forgiveness for the Muslim who does it.
5. Muslims who perform salat al-Jama'ah will receive a very large reward.
6. The angels pray for the Muslim who performs salat al-Jama'ah, asking for their well-being.
7. Every step taken to perform the al-Jama'ah prayer is forgiveness for the Muslim who does it.

That is a brief explanation of the virtues of salat al-Jama'ah. May it be beneficial! Amen!