Prayers: Two congregations in a
mosque
Q493 :In a mosque in our town, the followers of the
Hanafi and Shaf'ie sects offer their prayers in two congregations,
which are held separately but simultaneously, following two imams. Is
this allowed?
A493 : This is an ugly aspect of ignorance which
must be stopped altogether. When a person does not join a congregation,
he must have serious doubts about the faith of the imam leading that
congregation. If these doubts are based on the fact that the imam
belongs to a different school of thought, then this attitude shows how
ignorant the person is about the differences between the various
schools of thought in Islam. If the two congregations start at the same
time, both are invalid. If one starts after the other, then the second
is invalid. What we know of the history of Imam El-Shaf'ie is that he
went to Baghdad where he met with the leading figure of the Hanafi
school and discussed important issues with Imam Abu Yousuf and others.
As you are aware, Imam Abu Yousuf was the most important figure in the
Hanafi school of thought following the death of his mentor, the founder
of the school, Imam Abu Hanifa. Imam El-Shaf'ie joined the
congregations there without any question. What you should try to
achieve is for the two imams in your local mosque to learn more about
their schools of thought and how they differ from each other. Once they
get to know more, they will feel that their attitude is ludicrous.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News - Jeddah )