Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in the morning prayer, then he inquired: Is such-and-such person present? The people replied: No. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) inquired: Is such-and-such person present? The people replied: No. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: These two prayers are the heaviest upon the hypocrite. If they knew the virtue of these two prayers, they would surely join them, even if they had to crawl. And the first row is like the row of angels; if you knew its virtue, you would hasten towards it. And a man's prayer with two men is purer than his prayer with one man, and whenever the number (of people in the congregation) increases, it is more beloved to Allah the Exalted.

This narration is also transmitted with another chain of narration.

Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this statement of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever performs the Fajr and Isha prayers in congregation, it is as if he has spent the entire night in voluntary prayers."

Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever performs the Fajr and Isha prayers in congregation, it is as if he has spent the entire night in voluntary prayers."

Abdur Rahman bin Abu Amrah narrates: Sayyiduna Uthman Ghani (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the mosque after the Maghrib prayer and sat alone. I came and sat with him, so he said: O my nephew, I heard the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever performs the Isha prayer in congregation, it is as if he has spent half the night in voluntary prayers, and whoever also performs the Fajr prayer in congregation, it is as if he has spent the entire night in voluntary prayers."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“The angels come and go among you. When the Fajr prayer is performed, the angels of the day descend (and both the angels of the night and the day) all join you in this prayer. Then the angels of the night ascend and the angels of the day remain with you. Allah Almighty asks those angels, although He knows best, ‘In what state did you leave My servants?’ They reply, ‘When we came to them, they were performing prayer, and when we left them, they were still performing prayer.’ Then when the Asr prayer is performed, the angels of the night descend and both the angels of the day and the night join you in this prayer. Then the angels of the day ascend and the angels of the night remain with you. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) says: Their Lord asks them, although He knows best, He says, ‘In what state did you leave My servants?’ The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) says: The angels reply, ‘When we came to them, they were performing prayer, and when we left them, they were still performing prayer.’”The narrator says: I think (these words are also in the narration):“The angels say, so forgive those people on the Day of Resurrection.”

Abu Salih narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a man who left the mosque after the muezzin had given the call to prayer, so Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This person has disobeyed Sayyiduna Abu al-Qasim (peace and blessings be upon him). (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In this narration, two things are omitted: one is that the muezzin had given the call to prayer, and that he was performing ablution at that time. The second is that he was not going to perform the obligatory prayer. The narrator named Abu Salih is from Basra, and his name is Mizan, and he is trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! I am a blind man. My house is far away. He spoke to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about prayer, asking if he could be permitted to perform prayer at his home. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked: Do you hear the call to prayer (adhan)? He replied: Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Then join (the congregational prayer), even if you have to come crawling. (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) had requested the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to grant him concession to not join the congregation. The statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), "Join it even if you have to come crawling," is the greatest evidence that this command is obligatory, not merely recommended. Because whoever hears the call to prayer—if joining the congregation was not obligatory for him, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would have informed him that there is permission in this matter, since this answer was given in response to a similar question. So, it is impossible that something which is obligatory has no concession.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not respond to it (i.e., does not participate in the congregational prayer), his prayer is not valid, except if he has an excuse, for the ruling regarding an excuse is different." (Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) In this narration, there is evidence that the command of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to participate in the congregation is an obligatory command, not merely a recommendation. Because if the intent of the Prophet’s statement, "his prayer is not valid except for the one who has an excuse," was to indicate virtue, then when an excused person prays alone, he would attain the virtue of congregation. Since this is impossible, it is established that the command to come for congregation is obligatory, not merely recommended. As for the excuse due to which a person is considered excused from participating in the congregation, I have researched all the hadiths on this matter and found that the hadiths indicate that this excuse can be ten different things.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: For three days, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come to us (to lead the prayer). Then the iqamah was given for the prayer. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) began to step forward, so by the order of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), the curtain was lifted. When the whiteness of the blessed face of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) appeared before us, we had never seen any sight more beloved to us than the sight of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) when he came before us. The narrator says: The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) gestured with his blessed hand to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) to move forward. The narrator says: Then the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) let the curtain fall. After that, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did not come to the mosque until his passing.