Is it permissible to close a mosque because another mosque is very close to it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
I am the imam of a mosque in a village, and the mosque is not in the middle of the neighborhood, but between two neighborhoods. It is the congregational mosque, and each of the two neighborhoods has another mosque. Sometimes this leads to people not praying in this mosque in congregation. Out of concern for praying in congregation, I closed this mosque and moved to one of the mosques in this area. I do not know if he means by this that he closed the Friday mosque until Friday?
The Shaykh:
Repeat. Repeat.
The questioner:
I am the imam of a mosque in a village, and the mosque is not in the middle of the neighborhood, but between two neighborhoods. It is the congregational mosque, and a mosque was built in each of the two neighborhoods,
The Shaykh:
between them.
The questioner:
This led to people not praying in this mosque in congregation. Out of concern for praying in congregation, I closed this mosque and moved to one of the mosques in this area,
The Shaykh:
except for the Friday prayer. If you are in a mosque between two mosques and no one prays in it, move to one of the mosques, pray in congregation, and close it for the day of Friday.
The questioner:
He has started receiving a salary for the first mosque.
The Shaykh:
And if no one, meaning it is impossible that anyone prays with him. No one attends with him, and there is no hope that anyone will attend. Pray in congregation and the salary is a right, do not refuse it, you are ready. If you hope that someone will pray with you, then give the adhan and iqamah and pray in this mosque, perhaps someone will pray with you. If you have a following, if you have someone, if you are certain that no one will pray with you, then this mosque is for Friday only, keep it for Friday, and for the other prayers, pray with the people. Yes.
I am the imam of a mosque in a village, and the mosque is not in the middle of the neighborhood, but between two neighborhoods. It is the congregational mosque, and each of the two neighborhoods has another mosque. Sometimes this leads to people not praying in this mosque in congregation. Out of concern for praying in congregation, I closed this mosque and moved to one of the mosques in this area. I do not know if he means by this that he closed the Friday mosque until Friday?
The Shaykh:
Repeat. Repeat.
The questioner:
I am the imam of a mosque in a village, and the mosque is not in the middle of the neighborhood, but between two neighborhoods. It is the congregational mosque, and a mosque was built in each of the two neighborhoods,
The Shaykh:
between them.
The questioner:
This led to people not praying in this mosque in congregation. Out of concern for praying in congregation, I closed this mosque and moved to one of the mosques in this area,
The Shaykh:
except for the Friday prayer. If you are in a mosque between two mosques and no one prays in it, move to one of the mosques, pray in congregation, and close it for the day of Friday.
The questioner:
He has started receiving a salary for the first mosque.
The Shaykh:
And if no one, meaning it is impossible that anyone prays with him. No one attends with him, and there is no hope that anyone will attend. Pray in congregation and the salary is a right, do not refuse it, you are ready. If you hope that someone will pray with you, then give the adhan and iqamah and pray in this mosque, perhaps someone will pray with you. If you have a following, if you have someone, if you are certain that no one will pray with you, then this mosque is for Friday only, keep it for Friday, and for the other prayers, pray with the people. Yes.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، 223 هل يجوز غلق مسجد لوجود مسجد آخر قريب منه جدا؟ للإمام ابن باز — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.