Guidance on Reciting Shorter Surah's in Congregational Prayer
Hazrat Jabir bin Abdillah (ra) narrates that Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) bin Jabal would pray with the Holy Prophet (sa) and then return to his tribe and lead them in prayer.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Adhan, Bab idha Salla thumma amma Qauman, Hadith 711)
He would first come to Masjid al-Nabawi and offer prayers there, after which he would return to his home and lead his people in prayer. This is a narration from Sahih al-Bukhari.
Hazrat Jabir (ra) narrates that Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) would offer prayers with the Holy Prophet (sa) and then would return to his people and lead them in prayers. One evening, he offered the Isha prayer behind the Holy Prophet (sa). When he returned to his people, he led them in prayers and began reciting Surah al-Baqarah [chapter 2 of the Holy Quran]. Upon this, one person separated himself from the congregation, said ‘salam’ [to indicate the end of prayer] and began to pray on his own. When he saw that a lengthy chapter was being recited, he said ‘salam’ and began to offer the prayer on his own. Seeing him do this, the people called out his name and said, “Have you become a hypocrite?” They admonished him for leaving the congregational prayer and praying on his own and asked him whether he had become a hypocrite. Upon this he replied, “No, by God, I am not a hypocrite. I will certainly go to the Holy Prophet (sa) and inform him of what I have done. If I was a hypocrite, I would have secretly offered my prayers. I will certainly inform the Holy Prophet (sa) of all this.”
Subsequently, he came to see the Holy Prophet (sa) and said, “O Messenger (sa) of Allah! We transport water from one place to another on our camels and ensure people have water in their homes. Thus, we work all day long. Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) offered the Isha prayers with you and then came to his own neighbourhood and began reciting Surah al-Baqarah.” The Holy Prophet (sa) turned to Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) and said, “O Mu‘az! Do you wish to place the people in a trial? Why do you cause hardship for the people?” The Holy Prophet (sa) then advised what to recite and repeated it again.
According to the narration of Hazrat Jabir (ra), the Holy Prophet (sa) said: “You ought to recite Surah al-Shams, Surah al-Duha, Surah al-Lail and Surah al-A‘la.” The Holy Prophet (sa) mentioned these four chapters as an example. This is a narration of Sahih Muslim.
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Salah, Bab al-Qira‘ah fi al-Isha, Hadith 465)
There is a narration in Sahih al-Bukhari as follows: Hazrat Jabir (ra) bin Abdillah Ansari relates that one evening, a man was taking his camels, which would transport water and coincidentally, he saw that Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) was leading prayers in the mosque. Upon seeing him, he tied down his camels and began offering prayers behind Hazrat Mu‘az (ra). Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) began reciting Surah al-Baqarah or Surah al-Nisa. This individual stopped his prayers and left, but later found out that Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) was displeased by this act of his. Hence he came to the Holy Prophet (sa) and complained about Hazrat Mu‘az (ra). Upon hearing this, the Holy Prophet (sa) said to Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) three times, “O Mu‘az! You wish to put the people through a grave trial? Why do you put the people through difficulty by reciting long surahs [chapters of the Holy Quran]? Why did you not recite: Surah al-A‘la, Surah al-Shams, Surah al-Lail, because in the congregation behind you, there are elderly people, some of whom are weak and there are also those who have other needs.” As mentioned earlier, this is a narration of Sahih al-Bukhari.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Azan, Bab man shaka amamahu idha tawwala, Hadith 705)