I left my neighborhood mosque and prayed Fajr in another mosque with a smaller congregation because our mosque lengthens the time between the adhan and the iqamah!
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is there a sin on me if I leave my nearby neighborhood mosque and pray in a mosque farther from home, because the neighborhood mosque lengthens the time between the adhan and the iqamah very much, sometimes reaching fifty minutes for Fajr, which weakens my determination to think about the prayer? Will I be sinful for leaving the larger congregation and praying in the mosque with the smaller congregation?
Answer:
If the imam makes it difficult for the ma'mums by what the questioner mentioned, that he holds them up by delaying the iqamah, then they have an excuse to go and pray with others. People have needs, they have occupations, and they have [other matters], so he should not hold them up. In that case, the imam is the one who is at fault.
Do you know the story of the Companion who prayed behind Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him)? Mu'adh recited Surat al-Baqarah in the 'Isha' prayer, and he had two camels with him, meaning two camels, and he feared that the camels would get lost. When he saw that Mu'adh was lengthening the recitation, he separated from him and completed his prayer, then went to his camels.
When that reached the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he did not rebuke the one who separated, but he rebuked Mu'adh for his lengthening. He said, "Are you a tempter, O Mu'adh? Indeed, among you are those who drive people away." He rebuked Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him). So if the imam does not restrict himself by considering the ma'mums, they have the right
to go to another. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Whoever leads the people in prayer, let him shorten it." He considered the conditions of the ma'mums, to the extent that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray and want to lengthen it, but when he heard the crying of a child, he would shorten the prayer out of mercy for his mother. He considers the conditions of the ma'mums and does not make it difficult for them, nor does he follow his own desire. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is there a sin on me if I leave my nearby neighborhood mosque and pray in a mosque farther from home, because the neighborhood mosque lengthens the time between the adhan and the iqamah very much, sometimes reaching fifty minutes for Fajr, which weakens my determination to think about the prayer? Will I be sinful for leaving the larger congregation and praying in the mosque with the smaller congregation?
Answer:
If the imam makes it difficult for the ma'mums by what the questioner mentioned, that he holds them up by delaying the iqamah, then they have an excuse to go and pray with others. People have needs, they have occupations, and they have [other matters], so he should not hold them up. In that case, the imam is the one who is at fault.
Do you know the story of the Companion who prayed behind Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him)? Mu'adh recited Surat al-Baqarah in the 'Isha' prayer, and he had two camels with him, meaning two camels, and he feared that the camels would get lost. When he saw that Mu'adh was lengthening the recitation, he separated from him and completed his prayer, then went to his camels.
When that reached the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he did not rebuke the one who separated, but he rebuked Mu'adh for his lengthening. He said, "Are you a tempter, O Mu'adh? Indeed, among you are those who drive people away." He rebuked Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him). So if the imam does not restrict himself by considering the ma'mums, they have the right
to go to another. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Whoever leads the people in prayer, let him shorten it." He considered the conditions of the ma'mums, to the extent that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would pray and want to lengthen it, but when he heard the crying of a child, he would shorten the prayer out of mercy for his mother. He considers the conditions of the ma'mums and does not make it difficult for them, nor does he follow his own desire. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [392 -521] تركت مسجد حينا وصليت الفجر في مسجد آخر أقل جماعة لأن مسجدنا يطيل بين الإذان والإقامة! — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.