What is the ruling on buying and selling in the courtyards of the mosque?

Question : May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: Is it permissible to buy and sell in the external courtyards of the Haram? And is the greeting of the mosque (Tahiyyat al-Masjid) prayed there?

Answer : Yes, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) say that the mosque is what is inside the mosque's wall; the mosque is what is within the enclosure.
As for what is outside, even if it is among the courtyards of the mosques, it is not part of the mosque. Based on this, significant issues arise, such as: Is it permissible for a menstruating woman to remain in the external courtyards of the mosques that are outside their boundaries?
Answer, everyone. Yes. Now, is it permissible for the one in i'tikaf (spiritual retreat) to leave the mosque to the courtyards attached to the mosque? It is not permissible. Is it permissible to buy and sell in the courtyards outside the mosque? Yes. Apply this rule to what exists now in the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram); whatever is outside its wall is not part of it. But does the reward for one who prays in these courtyards equal the reward of one who prays inside the gates of the Haram? We say there is a distinction here: if the mosque is full and the rows are connected, then these people have the reward of those who are inside the mosque. But if the rows are not connected, then they do not.