What is the ruling on praying in a mosque or house behind a lamp?
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The questioner : What is the ruling on praying in a mosque or house behind a heater?
The Shaykh : In a house or mosque behind a heater?
The questioner : Yes, in front of the heater, so he prays.
The Shaykh : Ah, he is behind the heater?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : It is...
The questioner : No, I mean the heaters are in front of him.
The Shaykh : Okay, meaning praying toward the heater.
The questioner : Praying toward the heater.
The Shaykh : It appears to me—may Allah know best—that there is nothing wrong with praying behind this heater; because the jurists stated that it is disliked to pray toward a fire, and that is only because it involves imitating the worshippers of fire. In my opinion, this imitation does not appear in a fire like this one, which is contained in this small, enclosed room. The imitation does not occur when a Muslim prays behind a heater with this fire contained in this small room, so the appearance of imitation is not present here. Therefore, I say: there is nothing wrong with it. However, what is more important than this—and this is what we must ask about frequently, point out, and warn against—is that placing the heater in the mosque is not permissible except against the wall. If it is absolutely necessary, then between the pillars. If it is absolutely necessary, then between the rows, in such a way that it does not cut across the row.
People today are in a state of severe and very severe negligence. The reason for this is that people have distanced themselves from knowledge and jurisprudence in general, whatever kind of jurisprudence it is, whether Salafi or later. People no longer have this desire to study jurisprudence and knowledge for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); because people today, all of them except a few—meaning: most of them—only seek knowledge that benefits them materially. And this is the secret of why you do not find hadith scholars in the Islamic world throughout the centuries; you do not find hadith scholars, but you find jurists filling the world, according to the four schools of jurisprudence. Why? Because these people were employed as judges, muftis, mosque imams, and mu'adhdhins. As for the hadith scholars, they had no job; these people mostly worked for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The point is: today people have distanced themselves from studying jurisprudence in general, and from studying Salafi jurisprudence in particular. If these imams—mosque imams or other teachers and preachers—were found to be versed in jurisprudence, they are bound; they are prisoners of what they read in these books. They do not find in these books warnings about matters that have newly arisen, whether good or evil. From that, they do not find in the books what I stated to you earlier: it is not permissible to install the heater between the rows because it cuts across the rows. Rather, it should be placed against the wall, on the right or the left. They do not find such a phrase. But if they were jurists, they would have been able to perform analogical reasoning. Either they would reason by analogy to a text mentioned by their jurists, or if they were jurists based on the Book and the Sunnah, they would reason by analogy to the text. The jurists mentioned that the minbar should not be long because it cuts across the row. They mentioned this, may Allah reward them with good. They stated that the long minbar that cuts across the row, if the first row is completed, then what is behind the minbar is not considered the first row. The first row is the second row behind the imam; meaning: the first row ends with the wall of the minbar. The second wall, meaning the western one relative to our country, is not the first row. Likewise, the second row is not the third or fourth row that connects; that one goes from wall to wall. They mentioned this and warned about it because it cuts across the row.
Therefore, the "subbiyyah" (heater) has the same ruling as the minbar, and the minbar is undoubtedly better than the subbiyyah; because it has the khutbah and teaching and so on. Nevertheless, as long as it cuts across the rows, it should not be long, but rather it should be according to the Sunnah. These are just corrections.
Therefore, the subbiyyah must, if the people of the mosque need a subbiyyah in the cold winter days, either be placed between the pillars where no rows are formed between them, or be placed against the wall such that it does not cut across the row. As for praying toward it; there is nothing wrong with that, as I explained to you earlier.
Other than that?
The Shaykh : In a house or mosque behind a heater?
The questioner : Yes, in front of the heater, so he prays.
The Shaykh : Ah, he is behind the heater?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : It is...
The questioner : No, I mean the heaters are in front of him.
The Shaykh : Okay, meaning praying toward the heater.
The questioner : Praying toward the heater.
The Shaykh : It appears to me—may Allah know best—that there is nothing wrong with praying behind this heater; because the jurists stated that it is disliked to pray toward a fire, and that is only because it involves imitating the worshippers of fire. In my opinion, this imitation does not appear in a fire like this one, which is contained in this small, enclosed room. The imitation does not occur when a Muslim prays behind a heater with this fire contained in this small room, so the appearance of imitation is not present here. Therefore, I say: there is nothing wrong with it. However, what is more important than this—and this is what we must ask about frequently, point out, and warn against—is that placing the heater in the mosque is not permissible except against the wall. If it is absolutely necessary, then between the pillars. If it is absolutely necessary, then between the rows, in such a way that it does not cut across the row.
People today are in a state of severe and very severe negligence. The reason for this is that people have distanced themselves from knowledge and jurisprudence in general, whatever kind of jurisprudence it is, whether Salafi or later. People no longer have this desire to study jurisprudence and knowledge for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); because people today, all of them except a few—meaning: most of them—only seek knowledge that benefits them materially. And this is the secret of why you do not find hadith scholars in the Islamic world throughout the centuries; you do not find hadith scholars, but you find jurists filling the world, according to the four schools of jurisprudence. Why? Because these people were employed as judges, muftis, mosque imams, and mu'adhdhins. As for the hadith scholars, they had no job; these people mostly worked for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The point is: today people have distanced themselves from studying jurisprudence in general, and from studying Salafi jurisprudence in particular. If these imams—mosque imams or other teachers and preachers—were found to be versed in jurisprudence, they are bound; they are prisoners of what they read in these books. They do not find in these books warnings about matters that have newly arisen, whether good or evil. From that, they do not find in the books what I stated to you earlier: it is not permissible to install the heater between the rows because it cuts across the rows. Rather, it should be placed against the wall, on the right or the left. They do not find such a phrase. But if they were jurists, they would have been able to perform analogical reasoning. Either they would reason by analogy to a text mentioned by their jurists, or if they were jurists based on the Book and the Sunnah, they would reason by analogy to the text. The jurists mentioned that the minbar should not be long because it cuts across the row. They mentioned this, may Allah reward them with good. They stated that the long minbar that cuts across the row, if the first row is completed, then what is behind the minbar is not considered the first row. The first row is the second row behind the imam; meaning: the first row ends with the wall of the minbar. The second wall, meaning the western one relative to our country, is not the first row. Likewise, the second row is not the third or fourth row that connects; that one goes from wall to wall. They mentioned this and warned about it because it cuts across the row.
Therefore, the "subbiyyah" (heater) has the same ruling as the minbar, and the minbar is undoubtedly better than the subbiyyah; because it has the khutbah and teaching and so on. Nevertheless, as long as it cuts across the rows, it should not be long, but rather it should be according to the Sunnah. These are just corrections.
Therefore, the subbiyyah must, if the people of the mosque need a subbiyyah in the cold winter days, either be placed between the pillars where no rows are formed between them, or be placed against the wall such that it does not cut across the row. As for praying toward it; there is nothing wrong with that, as I explained to you earlier.
Other than that?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.