{"fatawa":{"id":7218,"title":"Reconciling the ahaadeeth about how many times better praying in congregation is than praying alone","slug":"reconciling-the-ahaadeeth-about-how-many-times-better-praying-in-congregation-is-than-praying-alone","order":"","question":"In Saheeh al-Bukhaari there are two ahaadeeth \u2013 numbers 645 and 646 according to the numbering of Fath al-Baari. According to hadeeth no. 645 the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: \u201cPraying in congregation is twenty seven times better than praying alone\u201d. According to hadeeth no. 646, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: \u201cPraying in congregation is twenty-five times better than praying alone.\u201d I hope that you can comment and explain.","answer":"Praise be to Allaah.  \r\nThe first hadeeth was narrated from \u2018Abd-Allaah ibn \u2018Umar by al-Bukhaari (619) and Muslim (650). It says: \u201cPraying in congregation is twenty seven times better than praying alone\u201d.  \r\n\r\nThe second hadeeth was narrated from Abu Sa\u2019eed al-Khudri, and was narrated by al-Bukhaari (619). It says: \u201cPraying in congregation is twenty-five times better than praying alone.\u201d \r\n\r\nThe scholars have reconciled between these two hadeeth. Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: \r\n\r\nThey may be reconciled in three ways: \r\n\r\n1 \u2013 There is no contradiction because mentioning a smaller number does not rule out the larger number. Taking numbers literally is not acceptable according to the scholars of usool. \r\n\r\n2 \u2013 He first spoke of the smaller number then Allaah told him of the greater bounty so he spoke of that.  \r\n\r\n3 \u2013 It may vary according to the circumstances of the worshippers and the prayer. So for some of them it may be twenty-five and for some it may be twenty-seven, depending on how complete their prayer is, whether it is done in the proper manner and with proper focus and humility (khushoo\u2019), the number of people present, how good they are, how good the environment is, etc. And Allaah knows best. \r\n\r\nAl-Majmoo\u2019, 4\/84 \r\n\r\nAnd there are other ways of reconciling the two hadeeth, some of which are based on the above. Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar suggested another way in Fath al-Baari (2\/132) which was not mentioned by al-Nawawi, which is twenty-seven applies to the prayers in which Qur\u2019aan is recited out loud and twenty-five applies to the prayers in which it is recited silently. \r\n\r\nAnd Allaah knows best.\r\n\r\nIslam Q&A","status":1,"created_at":"2014-10-25T20:51:56.000000Z","updated_at":"2014-10-25T20:51:56.000000Z","language_id":1,"fatawacate_id":30,"parent_id":7217,"author_id":"","books":[],"articles":[],"videos":[],"audios":[],"author_name":"","category_name":"Commentary on Hadeeth","category_slug":"","get_date":"2014-10-25"},"translations":[],"fatawa_books":[],"fatawa_articles":[],"fatawa_videos":[],"fatawa_audios":[],"url":"http:\/\/islamland.com\/eng\/api\/fatawas\/7218"}