Congregational prayer in the office or school when the mosque is nearby

The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: There is a mosque near the university, so I informed some of the students that praying in the mosque is better. They said to me, “Wherever you find the congregation, we pray with them, even if it is outside the mosque, and this is the school of thought.” He says the mosque is very close. Is their statement and action correct?

The Shaykh:
What is there?

The questioner:
There is a mosque near the university, so I informed some of the students that praying in the mosque is better. They said to me, “Wherever you find the congregation, we pray with them, even if it is outside the mosque, and this is the school of thought.” He says the mosque is very close. Is their statement and action correct?

The Shaykh:
The default is to pray in the mosque and respond to the call to prayer. This is the default. However, if their prayer is in the school, the department, or the office, it is more organized for their work, because if they go out to pray, they run away or leave, especially the students who scatter, or some of them do not pray and go to their families. No, they pray in the office or in [the office], and it is more organized for them, and they do not scatter. But if they are disciplined and go out to the mosque, and no one runs away and no one lags behind, there is no doubt that praying in the mosque is at least recommended, otherwise the default is that it is obligatory. Yes.