Tirmidhi

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: (1)
From the aforementioned ahadith, it is established that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said regarding those people who do not attend the prayer without any reason or excuse: these are self-interested people, because in the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), only the hypocrites (munafiqoon) would specifically not participate in the ‘Isha and Fajr prayers, as in that era, due to the lack of lighting arrangements, the prayers would be held in darkness and it was possible for them to remain hidden. Pointing towards their hypocrisy, he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: if they were certain of the goodness, blessings, and reward of these prayers, or if they knew that they would receive a bone filled with meat, then they would come to the prayer enduring hardship and difficulty, even crawling on their knees.

(2)
Regarding those who did not attend the congregation, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) made a firm intention to burn their houses along with them, but then he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not act upon this intention only because there were women and children in those houses, and for them, congregation is not obligatory, nor are they bound to come to the mosque.

(3)
The narrations from which it is established that an individual (who prays alone) receives one degree of reward, prove that:
If someone leaves the congregation without excuse or reason, his prayer will still be valid, but he will be sinful. There is no need for him to repeat the prayer.

(4)
There is a difference of opinion regarding whether congregation is an individual obligation (fard ‘ayn). The majority of the Hanafis, Malikis, and Shafi‘is consider congregational prayer to be a confirmed Sunnah (sunnah mu’akkadah), but some among them consider congregation to be a communal obligation (fard kifayah), meaning that if some people fulfill this obligation, it is lifted from the rest.
For this reason, according to the Hanafis and Shafi‘is, if all the inhabitants of a town do not pray in congregation, then war should be waged against them. According to the Hanbalis and the hadith scholars (muhaddithun), praying in congregation is an individual obligation (fard ‘ayn), meaning that it is the personal and individual responsibility of every person to participate in Jumu‘ah and congregational prayer.
According to the Zahiris and Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah, congregation is a condition for the validity and correctness of the prayer; whoever does not participate in the congregation, his prayer is not valid.
The requirement of the ahadith is that a person should participate in the congregation; being deprived of the congregation without reason or excuse is a sign of practical hypocrisy, a deprivation of goodness, blessings, and reward, and if one makes this a habit and routine, there is a danger that perhaps such a person’s prayer may not be valid at all.

One should not act with partiality in any fatwa or judgment on the basis of personal inclination. If there is a risk of bias, the judge (qadi) should not preside over the case; rather, another judge who can decide impartially should hear the case.

Urdu marginal note:
Ibn Abbas radi Allahu anhu was of the opinion that the waiting period (iddah) of mourning is obligatory in every case, as well as the completion of childbirth (for a pregnant widow). However, since the statement of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was different from this, Ibn Abbas radi Allahu anhu retracted his opinion. Radi Allahu anhu wa ardaahu.