Sa’id ibn Musayyib is reported to have said:
“Once a man from the Ansar was dying, he said:“ I will tell you a hadith, and I will not tell you except hoping for a reward from Allah. I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “If one of you performs ablution and does it properly, and then goes out for prayer, then he will not raise his right leg without the Great and Almighty Allah writing down one good deed for him and he will not step with his left foot except that the Great and Almighty Allah does not erase one of his sins. So let each of you make your way to the mosque whether short or long. And if he comes to the mosque and prays with the Jama’at, he will be forgiven (his sins). If he comes to the mosque and there they have already performed part of the prayer, but part has remained and he does the part that he found with them, then he will be forgiven (by Allah). And if he comes to the mosque and they have already performed the prayer so after which he prayers alone, then also he will be (forgiven by Allah Almighty) ”. This hadith was narrated by Abu Dawood 563 and al-Bayhaqi 3/69.
Sheikh al-Albani called the hadith authentic. See Sahih al-jami ‘as-saghir 440.
إذا توضأ أحدكم فأحسن الوضوء ثم خرج إلى الصلاة لم يرفع قدمه اليمنى إلا كتب الله عز و جل له حسنة و لم يضع قدمه اليسرى إلا حط الله عنه سيئة فليقرب أحدكم أو ليبعد فإن أتي المسجد فصلى في جماعة غفر له فإن أتي المسجد و قد صلوا بعضا و بقي بعض صلى ما أدرك و أتم ما بقي فإن أتي المسجد و قد صلوا فأتم الصلاة كان كذلك
( د هق ) عن رجل من الأنصار .
Grade: Sahih (Al-Albani) and Hasan (Darussalam)
Benefits from the hadith:
A person should leave for the mosque even though he may miss some or all of the Salah in congregation so that his sins are forgiven.
Khadeeja