Is it permissible to reserve places in the mosques?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This person asks: Is it permissible to reserve places in al-Masjid al-Haram or other mosques, if a person is sitting in a place and goes to attend to a need and then returns?
Answer:
Yes, there is no harm in reserving a place. However, if he reserves the place and leaves, not returning until after a long time—going to sleep, or going to buy and sell—that is not permissible. But if a person is in the mosque and has some business that requires him to return shortly, such as going to perform wudu, going to bring a book, taking a mushaf, or something similar, or speaking to a person and then returning, this falls under the ruling of remaining in the mosque. There is no harm in placing something in his place to keep it for him, because he is returning to it.
This person asks: Is it permissible to reserve places in al-Masjid al-Haram or other mosques, if a person is sitting in a place and goes to attend to a need and then returns?
Answer:
Yes, there is no harm in reserving a place. However, if he reserves the place and leaves, not returning until after a long time—going to sleep, or going to buy and sell—that is not permissible. But if a person is in the mosque and has some business that requires him to return shortly, such as going to perform wudu, going to bring a book, taking a mushaf, or something similar, or speaking to a person and then returning, this falls under the ruling of remaining in the mosque. There is no harm in placing something in his place to keep it for him, because he is returning to it.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يجوز حجز الأماكن في المساجد؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.