Building a mosque in the desert for one who resides there
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner asks: Shaykh, my father is in the desert. What is the ruling on building a mosque for him in the desert, Shaykh? Or should there be a prayer place?
Answer:
If he will reside in this place permanently, then he should build a mosque for himself and for those who come with him. But if his residence is not permanent, and is only for the purpose of guarding sheep or livestock, and then he returns to the town, then he does not build a mosque. The earth, praise be to Allah, is all a mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 335 So he has his mosque and his place of purification. Yes.
The questioner asks: Shaykh, my father is in the desert. What is the ruling on building a mosque for him in the desert, Shaykh? Or should there be a prayer place?
Answer:
If he will reside in this place permanently, then he should build a mosque for himself and for those who come with him. But if his residence is not permanent, and is only for the purpose of guarding sheep or livestock, and then he returns to the town, then he does not build a mosque. The earth, praise be to Allah, is all a mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying and a thing to perform Tayammum, therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a prayer is due.
وجعلت لي الأرض مسجدا وطهورا فأيما مسلم أدركته الصلاة
Source
قناة «السعودية»، برنامج فتاوى — youtube.com (8:56)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.