Ruling on Reserving a Place in the Mosque
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says: Shaykh Salih, is it permissible for me to pray the 'Asr prayer in a mosque and reserve a place in the first row to sit in after Maghrib to attend the lessons, knowing that I will go out to attend to some of my affairs between 'Asr and Maghrib?
Answer:
If you went out to attend to a need with the intention of returning to the mosque, there is nothing wrong with placing something in your place so that people know you will return to it, so that no one sits in it. However, if you are going to your work, to sleep, to eat and drink at home, or to sit with people or your family, it is not permissible for you to reserve the place. The place belongs to whoever arrived first. Yes.
This questioner says: Shaykh Salih, is it permissible for me to pray the 'Asr prayer in a mosque and reserve a place in the first row to sit in after Maghrib to attend the lessons, knowing that I will go out to attend to some of my affairs between 'Asr and Maghrib?
Answer:
If you went out to attend to a need with the intention of returning to the mosque, there is nothing wrong with placing something in your place so that people know you will return to it, so that no one sits in it. However, if you are going to your work, to sleep, to eat and drink at home, or to sit with people or your family, it is not permissible for you to reserve the place. The place belongs to whoever arrived first. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/055 — archive.org (12:16)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.