The ruling on the fatwa that prayer in the mosque is not obligatory
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: What is the ruling on the fatwa that prayer in the mosque is not obligatory?
Answer:
This is a fatwa of misguidance and error, contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) checked on those who lagged behind in prayer and described them as hypocrites. He described them as hypocrites, and one is not described as a hypocrite except for abandoning an obligatory duty, because the one who abandons a recommended practice or a permissible act is not called a hypocrite; rather, that term is applied to the one who abandons an obligatory command. This indicates that congregational prayer is obligatory and that it is part of faith, and abandoning it without an excuse is hypocrisy. So does the Muslim accept being with the hypocrites? Or must he not accept it, except to be with the believers? The believer does not accept being with the believers, so why does he isolate himself from the congregation and be with the hypocrites? Who says this except an ignorant person or a person who has a desire (hawa)?
And if a fatwa contradicts the evidence, it is an erroneous fatwa, and if its issuer is intentional, it is a misguided fatwa. Yes, a fatwa of misguidance.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
The questioner says: What is the ruling on the fatwa that prayer in the mosque is not obligatory?
Answer:
This is a fatwa of misguidance and error, contrary to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) checked on those who lagged behind in prayer and described them as hypocrites. He described them as hypocrites, and one is not described as a hypocrite except for abandoning an obligatory duty, because the one who abandons a recommended practice or a permissible act is not called a hypocrite; rather, that term is applied to the one who abandons an obligatory command. This indicates that congregational prayer is obligatory and that it is part of faith, and abandoning it without an excuse is hypocrisy. So does the Muslim accept being with the hypocrites? Or must he not accept it, except to be with the believers? The believer does not accept being with the believers, so why does he isolate himself from the congregation and be with the hypocrites? Who says this except an ignorant person or a person who has a desire (hawa)?
And if a fatwa contradicts the evidence, it is an erroneous fatwa, and if its issuer is intentional, it is a misguided fatwa. Yes, a fatwa of misguidance.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
أهمية طلب العلم — alfawzan.live (58:32)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.