Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) found some people absent during the congregational prayer, so he inquired:“Why did those people not participate in the prayer?”The people replied: They had some work. So he said:“The prayer of one who lives near the mosque is only in the mosque.”These are the words of Ibn Makhlad, while Abu Hamid narrated these words:“Whoever hears the call to prayer and does not come (to the mosque), his prayer is not valid, except if there is an excuse (i.e., a valid reason).”