حَدَّثَنَا حَفْصُ بْنُ عُمَرَ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَقَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ عَنْ أُبَيِّ بْنِ کَعْبٍ قَالَ صَلَّی بِنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَوْمًا الصُّبْحَ فَقَالَ أَشَاهِدٌ فُلَانٌ قَالُوا لَا قَالَ أَشَاهِدٌ فُلَانٌ قَالُوا لَا قَالَ إِنَّ هَاتَيْنِ الصَّلَاتَيْنِ أَثْقَلُ الصَّلَوَاتِ عَلَی الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَلَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ مَا فِيهِمَا لَأَتَيْتُمُوهُمَا وَلَوْ حَبْوًا عَلَی الرُّکَبِ وَإِنَّ الصَّفَّ الْأَوَّلَ عَلَی مِثْلِ صَفِّ الْمَلَائِکَةِ وَلَوْ عَلِمْتُمْ مَا فَضِيلَتُهُ لَابْتَدَرْتُمُوهُ وَإِنَّ صَلَاةَ الرَّجُلِ مَعَ الرَّجُلِ أَزْکَی مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ وَحْدَهُ وَصَلَاتُهُ مَعَ الرَّجُلَيْنِ أَزْکَی مِنْ صَلَاتِهِ مَعَ الرَّجُلِ وَمَا کَثُرَ فَهُوَ أَحَبُّ إِلَی اللَّهِ تَعَالَی
سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 554
Narrated Ubayy ibn Kab: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in the dawn prayer one day. And he said: Is so and so present? They said: No. He (again) asked: Is so and so present? They replied: No. He then said: These two prayers are the ones which are most burdensome to hypocrites. If you knew what they contain (i. e. blessings), you would come to them, even though you had to crawl on your knees. The first row is like that of the angels, and if you knew the nature of its excellence, you would race to join it. A man's prayer said along with another is purer than his prayer said alone, and his prayer with two men is purer than his prayer with one, but if there are more it is more pleasing to Allah, the Almighty, the Majestic.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020