The ruling on praying in congregation in a workplace room when no mosque is available
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Question:
He says: We are a group of employees working in a company, and the place where we work has no mosque for prayer. However, we have designated a room in which to pray, but it is small and cannot accommodate more than one row behind the imam. The question is: Is it obligatory for us to place the imam at the far left, with a row to the imam’s right, meaning we form two rows—one to the imam’s right and one behind the imam—given that the imam is not in the middle of the row? Or how should we proceed? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
First, if there is a mosque near you and you can hear the adhan, it is obligatory for you to go to the mosque, and it is not permissible for you to pray in your homes or in the workplace, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nur 24:37] in houses which Allah has made to be raised to His mention, until He says: [An-Nur 24:37], so they go to the mosques, [Al-Jumu'ah 62:9], meaning to the mosques. And when a blind man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asking if he had a dispensation to pray in his home due to the hardship he faced on the road, the Prophet asked him: Do you hear the call to prayer? He said: Yes. The Prophet said: I do not find a dispensation for you.
And he threatened the hypocrites who do not attend the prayer that their houses would be burned down with fire. And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said:
Sahih Muslim 654b, and indeed we used to see that none of us lagged behind it, meaning the congregational prayer in the mosques, Sahih Muslim 654b. So if there is a mosque near you and you can hear the adhan, you must go to the mosque and pray with the Muslim congregation. As for if there is no mosque near you and you do not hear the adhan, there is no harm in praying in the room. If it is cramped, the imam should be in the middle of the first row; the imam should be in the middle of the first row, positioned in the middle of the first row. Yes.
He says: We are a group of employees working in a company, and the place where we work has no mosque for prayer. However, we have designated a room in which to pray, but it is small and cannot accommodate more than one row behind the imam. The question is: Is it obligatory for us to place the imam at the far left, with a row to the imam’s right, meaning we form two rows—one to the imam’s right and one behind the imam—given that the imam is not in the middle of the row? Or how should we proceed? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
First, if there is a mosque near you and you can hear the adhan, it is obligatory for you to go to the mosque, and it is not permissible for you to pray in your homes or in the workplace, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah
لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِneither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah
تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِwhen [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah
إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِAnd he threatened the hypocrites who do not attend the prayer that their houses would be burned down with fire. And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said:
If you were to pray in your houses as this man why stays away (from the mosque) prays in his house, you would abandon the practice of your Prophet, and if you were to abandon the practice of your Prophet, you would go astray.
ولو أنكم صليتم في بيوتكم كما يصلي هذا المتخلف في بيته لتركتم سنة نبيكم، ولو تركتم سنة نبيكم لضللتمexcept a hypocrite, who was well known for his hypocrisy, whereas a man would be brought swaying (due to weakness) between two men till he was set up in a row.
وما يتخلف عنها إلا منافق معلوم النفاق، ولقد كان يؤتى بالرجل يهادى بين الرجلين حتى يقام في الصف
Source
اصطفاف المأمومين في صف الإمام — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.