A common question related to Fajr and ’Aṣr prayers

My nearest masjid is Ḥanafi, and they usually delay Fajr and ’Aṣr after the desirable time, so what's better for me to do; 1. To pray alone at the earliest time, 2. To pray with them in congregation, or 3. To combine between these two options by praying twice? Answer: The scholars differed which of these three views is best. An-Nawawi raḥimahullāh gave a nice answer: «الَّذِي نَخْتَارُهُ أَنَّهُ يَفْعَلُ مَا أَمَرَهُ بِهِ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ فَيُصَلِّي مَرَّتَيْنِ: مَرَّةً فِي أَوَّلِ الْوَقْتِ مُنْفَرِدًا لِتَحْصِيلِ فَضِيلَةِ أَوَّلِ الْوَقْتِ، وَمَرَّةً فِي آخِرِهِ مَعَ الْجَمَاعَةِ لِتَحْصِيلِ فَضِيلَتِهَا، فَإِنْ أَرَادَ الِاقْتِصَارَ عَلَى صَلَاةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ - فَإِنْ تَيَقَّنَ حُصُولَ الْجَمَاعَةِ آخِرَ الْوَقْتِ - فَالتَّأْخِيرُ أَفْضَلُ لِتَحْصِيلِ شِعَارِهَا الظَّاهِرِ، وَلِأَنَّهَا فَرْضُ كِفَايَةٍ عَلَى الصَّحِيحِ فِي مَذْهَبِنَا وَفَرْضُ عَيْنٍ عَلَى وَجْهٍ لَنَا، وَهُوَ قَوْلُ ابْنِ خُزَيْمَةَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا، وَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ حَنْبَلٍ وَطَائِفَةٍ، فَفِي تَحْصِيلِهَا خُرُوجٌ مِنْ الْخِلَافِ، وَلَمْ يَقُلْ أَحَدٌ يَأْثَمُ بِتَأْخِيرِهَا، وَيُحْتَمَلُ أَنْ يُقَالَ: إنْ فَحُشَ التَّأْخِيرُ فَالتَّقْدِيمُ أَفْضَلُ، وَإِنْ خَفَّ فَالِانْتِظَارُ أَفْضَلُ وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ». “Our chosen view is that he does what the Prophet ﷺ commanded him to do¹, and he prays twice: once at the beginning of the time alone; in order to attain the virtue of the earliest time, and then at the end of it with the congregation to attain its virtue (i.e. Virtue of congregation). If he wants to limit himself to one prayer - and he is certain that the congregation will occur at the end of the time - then he should delay it; in order to establish this manifest symbol, and because it is a communal obligation according to the correct view in our madh-hab (Shafi'iyyah), and an individual obligation according to another view in the madh-hab; which is the view of Ibn Khuzaymah; one of our companions, and the madh-hab of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and a group (of scholars), and so [if one prays in congregation] he removes himself from the dispute, and no one said that he is sinful for delaying it [in this case]. It is may be said: If they delay it a lot, then praying it early is better, but if the delay is short, then waiting is better, and Allāh knows best.” [Al-Majmū’ (2/303)] ____ ¹ عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ رضي الله عنه قَالَ: قَالَ لِي رَسُولُ اللهِ (ﷺ): ‏((كَيْفَ أَنْتَ إِذَا كَانَتْ عَلَيْكَ أُمَرَاءُ يُؤَخِّرُونَ الصَّلاَةَ عَنْ وَقْتِهَا أَوْ يُمِيتُونَ الصَّلاَةَ عَنْ وَقْتِهَا؟)).‏ قَالَ قُلْتُ فَمَا تَأْمُرُنِي؟ قَالَ: ‏((صَلِّ الصَّلاَةَ لِوَقْتِهَا، فَإِنْ أَدْرَكْتَهَا مَعَهُمْ فَصَلِّ؛ فَإِنَّهَا لَكَ نَافِلَةٌ)).‏ [رواه مسلم] Narrated Abu Dharr: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: How would you act when you are under the rulers who would delay the prayer beyond its prescribed time, or they would make prayer a dead thing as far as its proper time is concerned? I said: What do you command? He (the Prophet ﷺ) said: “Observe the prayer at its proper time, and if you can offer it along with them do so, for it would be a superetogatory prayer for you.”