عن أَبي الدرداءِ رضي اللّه عنه قالَ: سَمِعتُ رسولَ اللَّه صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: مَا مِن ثَلاثَةٍ فِي قَرْيَةٍ وَلاَ بَدْوٍ لا تُقَامُ فِيهمُ الصَّلاةُ إِلاَّ قدِ اسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ، فَعَلَيكُمْ بِالجَمَاعَةِ، فَإِنَّمَا يأْكُلُ الذِّئْبُ مِنَ الغَنمِ القَاصِيَةَ رواه أبو داود بإِسناد حسن.
Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "There are no three men in a village or in the desert among whom the prayer is not established but that Satan has gained mastery over them. So keep to the congregation, for the wolf devours only the stray sheep." Reported by Abu Dawud with a hasan (good) chain.
الشرح · explanation
استحوذ عليهم الشيطان: غلبهم واستولى عليهم. فعليكم: الزموا. القاصية: البعيدة عن أخواتها، وهذا تشبيه لتارك الجماعة بالشاة المنفردة عن أخواتها، فإن الشيطان يفترسه ويستولي عليه.
"Satan has gained mastery over them (istahwadha)": he overcame them and took control of them. "So keep to (fa-alaykum)": hold fast and adhere. "The stray one (al-qasiyah)": the one far from its fellows; this is a comparison of the one who abandons the congregation to the sheep isolated from its fellows, for Satan preys upon it and takes control of it.
الدروس · lessons
الحثّ على صلاة الجماعة، وأنّ تركها مدعاة لانتصار وساوس الشيطان. الحديث يدل على أنّها فرض كفاية تظهر بها شعيرة الجماعة. أنّ الجماعة لها فضل في تلاقي المسلمين ويقوي بعضهم بعضًا، وأن تركها مدعاة للضعف والتشتت وتفرق الكلمة.
The urging to congregational prayer, and that abandoning it is a cause for the triumph of Satan's whisperings. The hadith indicates that it is a communal obligation (fard kifayah) by which the emblem of the congregation is made manifest. That the congregation has merit in the mutual meeting of the Muslims and their strengthening of one another, and that abandoning it is a cause of weakness, dispersion, and division.