The imam and the mu'adhdhin leaving the prayer in a mosque where no one else prays
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. In many villages, there are numerous mosques. The mosque where the congregation is present has only one or two people, while in the other mosques, only the imam or the mu'adhdhin prays, and sometimes one or two men at most pray with them. Is it permissible for the mu'adhdhin and the imam, in this situation where no one else prays with them, to leave the prayer in this mosque except for one or two obligatory prayers, and pray the rest with other congregations in other mosques?
Answer:
He prays alone. If no one joins him, he goes to pray with the congregation in the other mosque. But if even one person joins him, they pray as a congregation in the mosque. Two people, as you expect, constitute a congregation. If even one person comes with him, they pray. But if no one ever comes, he goes and prays with the congregation and does not pray alone.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. In many villages, there are numerous mosques. The mosque where the congregation is present has only one or two people, while in the other mosques, only the imam or the mu'adhdhin prays, and sometimes one or two men at most pray with them. Is it permissible for the mu'adhdhin and the imam, in this situation where no one else prays with them, to leave the prayer in this mosque except for one or two obligatory prayers, and pray the rest with other congregations in other mosques?
Answer:
He prays alone. If no one joins him, he goes to pray with the congregation in the other mosque. But if even one person joins him, they pray as a congregation in the mosque. Two people, as you expect, constitute a congregation. If even one person comes with him, they pray. But if no one ever comes, he goes and prays with the congregation and does not pray alone.
Source
شرح زاد المستقنع [10] — alfawzan.live (1:17:39)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
