What is preferable for the congregational prayer in a mosque that is not held except with his presence?
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Question : As for those who are not in a frontier region, it is said that the preferable option for others is the mosque where the congregation is not held except with their presence, provided there is an established mosque where people pray, but there is a man who, if he attends and becomes the imam, the congregation is held, and if he does not attend, the people disperse. So the preferable option for this man is to pray in this mosque for the sake of keeping the mosque active, because if he did not attend, what would happen? The mosque would be neglected, and neglecting mosques is something that should not be done. So if this man comes to us and says, "If I attend, I become the imam and hold the congregation in this mosque, and if I do not attend, the congregation is not held in it," is it preferable for him to go to another mosque that has a larger congregation, or should he pray in this mosque?
Answer : The answer is that he should pray in this mosque, but this should be qualified with a condition, which is that the mosque not be close to the mosque with the larger congregation. If it is close to it such that it is easy for its people to pray in the mosque with the larger congregation, it may be said that it is preferable for the Muslims to gather in one mosque, and that this is more appropriate.
What? From the dispersal, because whenever the Muslims gather, it is undoubtedly better. So if it happens that this is an old mosque where five or ten people attend, and around it is a mosque where a large group gathers, and it is not difficult for the people of the old mosque to move to the other mosque, it may be said that it is preferable for them to join the other mosque and gather there, because the larger the congregation, the better it is.
Answer : The answer is that he should pray in this mosque, but this should be qualified with a condition, which is that the mosque not be close to the mosque with the larger congregation. If it is close to it such that it is easy for its people to pray in the mosque with the larger congregation, it may be said that it is preferable for the Muslims to gather in one mosque, and that this is more appropriate.
What? From the dispersal, because whenever the Muslims gather, it is undoubtedly better. So if it happens that this is an old mosque where five or ten people attend, and around it is a mosque where a large group gathers, and it is not difficult for the people of the old mosque to move to the other mosque, it may be said that it is preferable for them to join the other mosque and gather there, because the larger the congregation, the better it is.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 2799رجل تقام الجماعة في مسجد ما بحضوره الأفضل أن يصلي...📔 الشرح الممتع على زاد المستقنع - ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
