858. If the body or clothing of a person contacts blood from internal piles, or a wound within the mouth or the nose, or wounds similar to these, it is apparently permissible to pray with it. However, if the blood is from external piles, then it is definitely permissible to pray with it.

859. If a person who has a wound on his body, discovers blood on his body or clothing equal to or greater than the size of a dirham, but does not know whether it is the blood from the wound or not, it will not be permissible for him to pray with it.

1407. It is recommended that the obligatory prayers, the daily prayers in particular, be offered in congregation. It is more advocated in the fajr and ‘ishÁ’ prayer, for the neighbours of a mosque, and anyone who hears the adhÁn to attend the congregational prayer. According to certain traditions, it has similarly been advocated for the maghrib prayer.

1408. The congregational prayer is greater in virtue than the individual prayer by twenty four degrees, and is equal to twenty five prayers. A narration to the following effect has been narrated from the messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him and his progeny): For a person who proceeds to a mosque, seeking to offer the congregational prayer, there are seventy thousand rewards for each step he takes, and a (spiritual) status similar to them. If he dies in this state, God delegates seventy thousand angels to proceed to his grave, give him glad tidings, be his companies in the loneliness of his grave, and seek forgiveness for him until the day he is resurrected.

860. If there are numerous wounds on the body, the proximity of which is so nominal that they are all considered as one wound, there is no problem in praying with their blood until they all heal. However, if the distance between them is such that each is deemed to be a wound on its own, one must make his clothes and body ÔÁhir from the blood of each wound that heals, if it is not smaller than a dirham.

1409. It is not permissible to neglect attending the congregational prayer out of indifference, and it is not beseeming that a person not attend it without justification.

1410. It is recommended to delay one’s prayer in order to offer it in congregation. The delayed congregational prayer is better than the individual prayer offered in its earliest time so long as its prime time has not elapsed. The brief congregational prayer is greater in virtue than the prolonged individual prayer.

861. If the blood of a dog, a pig, an animal whose meat is forbidden, a carcass, a kÁfir who is not from the Ahl al-KitÁb, or the blood of ÎayÃ, is found on the body or clothing of one who is praying, his prayer is invalid, even if it be the size of the tip of a needle. Based on obligatory precaution, the blood of nifÁs and istiÎÁÃah have the same ruling.
However, there is no problem in praying with other instances of blood, such as blood from a human body that is not essentially najis, or the blood of an animal whose meat is permissible to consume, even if it be found on numerous parts of the body, provided the total area covered by the blood is lesser than a dirham.

862. Blood that flows onto clothing without lining in such a manner that it soaks through to the other side, is deemed as one blood. However, if the other side is separately stained with blood, each is to be deemed a separate instance of blood. Therefore if the blood on both sides—in the case the blood soaks through without lining—is smaller than that of a dirham, it is permissible to pray with it and if it is equal to or greater than a dirham, prayer with it is invalid.

1411. When a congregational prayer is established, it is recommended that a person who has already offered his prayer individually, should repeat his prayer in congregation. If it later transpires that his first prayer was invalid, his second prayer will be sufficient.

1412. It is not permissible for the imam or the follower to repeat the prayer he has offered in congregation, in another congregation, unless he entertains the possibility of the first being invalid. However, it is recommended for him to repeat it in another congregation if he is the imam in the second prayer, and there is a person amongst the followers who has not offered his obligatory prayer.

1413. If a person is affected by satanic whispers to such a degree that it renders his prayer invalid, and he is only relieved from the satanic whispers when he offers his prayer in congregation, he should offer it in congregation. Obligatory precaution dictates that he should similarly offer it in congregation even if it does not render his prayer invalid.

1414. If a father or mother commands their child to offer their prayer in congregation, it is forbidden to disobey them if disobedience causes distress to them.

1415. A recommended prayer cannot be offered in congregation, except the istisqÁ’ prayer that is offered for seeking rain, or a prayer that was previously obligatory, but is now recommended owing to a reason, such as the ‘Ðd al-fiÔr and ‘Ðd al-aÃÎÁ prayer that were obligatory in the presence of Infallible Imam (Peace be upon him), and are recommended during his occultation.

1416. If an Imam is offering a congregational prayer of one of the daily obligatory prayers, any of the daily obligatory prayers can be offered behind him.

1417. If the Imam of a congregation is offering a qaÃÁ prayer, whether his own, or another’s, one may follow him in congregation if there is certainty that its ada has not been offered. However, if he is offering the qaÃÁ as a precautionary measure, it is not permissible to follow him in congregation, unless the prayer of the follower too is precautionary, and the source of their precaution is the same.

1418. If one does not know whether the prayer a person is offering is one of the daily obligatory prayers, or a recommended prayer, he cannot follow him in congregation.

863. If blood flows onto clothing with lining in such a manner that it seeps onto the lining, or blood that flows onto the lining and soaks through to the exterior, each must be consider a separate instance of blood. Therefore, if the blood on the clothing and the lining is less than a dirham, prayer with it is valid. If however, it is equal to or greater than a dirham, prayer with it is invalid.

1419. One of the conditions for the validity of the congregation is that there should not be a barrier between the imam and the follower, or between any follower and the follower who serves as a link between him and the imam, to a degree that obstructs vision, such as a wall, a curtain or anything similar. Therefore, if during all the states of prayer, or some of them, there is a barrier between the Imam and the follower, or between any follower and the follower that serves as a link between him and the imam, the congregation will be invalid. Women are excluded from this ruling as shall be elaborated later.

1420. If a person is standing on one of the two sides of the first row, and is unable to see the imam due to the lengthiness of the row, he may follow the imam in congregation. Similarly, if a person is standing on one of the two sides of another row, and is unable to see the row ahead, due to the lengthiness of the row, he may follow the imam in congregation.