The ruling on reserving a place in the mosque for another person
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
If a man leaves the mosque before the prayer, is it permissible for me to reserve this place and bring someone dear to me to sit in it, or is the person next to me more entitled to it?
Answer:
If the owner of the seat is going to return, he is more entitled to it. If he leaves intending to return to his place, it is not permissible for anyone to reserve it; it belongs to its owner. However, if he did not intend to return, having left without intending to come back, the mosque is for everyone. Whoever comes sits, and whoever comes sits in it. One should not reserve it for anyone either. Do not reserve it for someone, for perhaps someone who arrived earlier will come, and the person you reserved it for is the laziest of people and will not come until he is the last one. This is not permissible for you. Yes.
If a man leaves the mosque before the prayer, is it permissible for me to reserve this place and bring someone dear to me to sit in it, or is the person next to me more entitled to it?
Answer:
If the owner of the seat is going to return, he is more entitled to it. If he leaves intending to return to his place, it is not permissible for anyone to reserve it; it belongs to its owner. However, if he did not intend to return, having left without intending to come back, the mosque is for everyone. Whoever comes sits, and whoever comes sits in it. One should not reserve it for anyone either. Do not reserve it for someone, for perhaps someone who arrived earlier will come, and the person you reserved it for is the laziest of people and will not come until he is the last one. This is not permissible for you. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [3436/3131] حكم حجز المكان في المسجد لشخص آخر - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.