Prayer is the foundation of faith and a major pillar of Islam. Islamic teachings urge us to hasten to prayer, and not to stay away from praying in congregation, because of the multiplied reward that that brings. In this hadith, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) highlights the virtue of prayer in congregation, and tells us that praying in congregation is twenty-five times better than praying alone in one’s house or marketplace. In al-Sahihayn it says that it is twenty-seven times better. This difference depends on the differences in the condition of the worshipper and of the prayer. For some of them it will be twenty-five times better, and for others it will be twenty-seven times better, according to how perfect the prayer is, how properly they performed it, how focused and humble they were when praying, how large the congregation was, the virtues of the members of the congregation, and how sacred the place in which the prayer was offered is. And it was said that there are other factors. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained the reason for this increased reward, which is that if the Muslim does wudu’ and does it thoroughly, paying attention to the sunnahs and etiquette of the action, and comes to the mosque intending only to pray, and for no other purpose, he will not take one step but Allah will raise him one degree in status thereby and will erase one sin from him, until he enters the mosque. Then when he enters the mosque, he will be in a state of prayer, so long as his reason for being in the mosque is to pray. The angels will send blessings upon him – that is, they will pray for him – so long as he remains in the place where he prayed. Therefore the blessing of the angels depends on his remaining in the place where he prayed, and this virtue, reward and goodness will continue for him so long as nothing happens, which refers to his invalidating his wudu’; if he does invalidate his wudu’, it will become forbidden for the angels to pray for forgiveness for him, even if he remains sitting in that spot. And it was said that what was meant is so long as he does not commit sin. Then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) stated that the angels pray for him, saying in their supplication: O Allah forgive him, O Allah have mercy on him. The difference between forgiveness and mercy is that forgiveness is concealment and pardoning of sins, whereas mercy is showing kindness to him. This hadith highlights the great virtue and reward of praying in congregation. It highlights the virtue of waiting for the prayer, and that the one who does that will attain the angels’ prayer for forgiveness for him. It also urges us to do wudu’ properly..