What are the proofs of those who stipulate the validity of prayer with congregation, and of those who stipulate the validity of congregation in the mosque, and what are the references that have discussed this topic in detail?

Citing all the references that have discussed this jurisprudential issue would be lengthy, so we will summarize the evidence of both parties:

Firstly: Those who say that congregational prayer is a condition for the validity of the prayer (one of two narrations from Ahmad, strengthened by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Aqil al-Hanbali) based their arguments on:

1. The hadith: "Whoever hears the call [to prayer] and does not come, there is no prayer for him except for an excuse." 2. The hadith: "There is no prayer for the mosque's neighbor except in the mosque." (This is weak, but authentically attributed to Ali as a saying of his). 3. Analogy to abandoning an obligatory act within the prayer: Just as prayer becomes invalid by intentionally abandoning an obligatory act, it also becomes invalid by abandoning the congregation (according to the view that it is obligatory).

Secondly: Those who say that congregational prayer is not a condition for the validity of the prayer based their arguments on:

1. The hadith: "Congregational prayer is twenty-seven degrees superior to the prayer of an individual." (This indicates the validity of the individual's prayer).

Rebuttal to the evidence of the first party:

1. Regarding the hadith "Whoever hears the call...": The negation here is for the obligatory perfection, not for validity, in order to reconcile it with the authentic hadiths regarding the validity of individual prayer. 2. Regarding the hadith "There is no prayer for the mosque's neighbor...": This is weak, and its authenticated attribution to Ali as a saying of his is also weak. 3. Regarding the analogy to abandoning an obligatory act within the prayer: This is an analogy with a significant difference, because congregational prayer is obligatory for the prayer, unlike the obligatory acts which are a part of the prayer itself.