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Fatwa CenterWhoever Misses the Congregation for a Sound Excuse Gets Its Reward
Question
A person goes to a mosque with the intention of praying in congregation, but finds congregation prayers was already held. Now if he prays alone in the Mosque will he get the reward of praying in congregation? Is there any Hadeeth to strengthen this?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Whoever reaches the mosque and finds out that the Imam has already said the Tasleem (Assalaamu Alaykum – concluding the prayer), he should wait for a while to pray with a new congregation if other people arrive late; otherwise, he prays alone.
As for the reward of the congregational prayer, he gets it if his delay was not due to neglect. The Prophet said: “Whoever performs ablution and heads to the mosque and finds that the people had already prayed, Allah gives him the same reward as those who actually attended the prayer and this does not reduce the reward of those people (in anyway).” [Ahmad]
Such a person also gets the reward of each step he stepped while going to the mosque. Abu Hurayrah 
narrated that the Prophet said:
“Whoever purified himself (by performing ablution or Ghusl) in his home, then walked to one of the Houses of Allah (mosques) for the sake of performing one of the prayers made obligatory by Allah (on him), then one of his steps wipes out one sin, and the other step raises his status [by one degree].” [Muslim]
We remind our dear brother that praying in congregation with the official Imam of the mosque is one of the best deeds that the Muslim should keep on doing. The Prophet was once asked: “Which deed is best?' He replied: “The prayer at its prescribed fixed time….”
For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 358444.
Allah knows best.
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