The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Proceed and pray follow me in prayer and those who come after you should follow you. Some people keep lagging behind until Allaah Causes them to lag behind.” Do the people who lag behind mentioned in this Hadeeth include those people who do not attend congregational prayer at all or those who attend but slacken to stand in the row when called to perform prayer, or does it mean something else?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

In his commentary on Saheeh Muslim, As-Suyooti said that lagging behind here means being lazy to stand in the first row. This opinion is supported by another Hadeeth: “Some people will continue to draw back from (standing) in the first row (in prayer) until Allaah Causes them to draw back.” [Abu Daawood, Al-Bayhaqi (Al-Albaani: Saheeh)]

Allaah Knows best.