What is the justification for you performing the Maghrib prayer here, given the abundance of mosques? And is it a Shari'ah justification that permits leaving the mosque?

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh- May Allah reward you with good, and may He preserve you - , he says: What is the justification for you performing the Maghrib prayer here, given the abundance of mosques, and ...? And is it a Shari'ah justification that permits leaving the mosque, and ...? And is it among the ... regarding the five prayers? As for him, even if he is ignorant, what is the best, ... May Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh: There are two issues here: the first issue concerns us, the travelers, and the other issue concerns you, the residents of this country. As for what concerns the travelers, it is not obligatory for them to attend the congregation in the mosque; because they are travelers. This issue has become clear to me that many people have not fully grasped it; even though they have grasped an issue that is comparable to and similar to it, which is more important than this, and they knew that it is not obligatory for travelers; namely, the Friday prayer. It is not hidden from everyone that the Friday prayer is an individual obligation (fard 'ayn) for every resident who prays, whereas the traveler is one of four categories for whom the Friday prayer is not obligatory. Therefore, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed at 'Arafah, and that was on a Friday, he did not pray the Friday prayer as a Friday prayer, but rather he prayed it as the Zuhr prayer. So, the Friday prayer is not obligatory for the traveler.
And if this fact is known to you, and another piece of knowledge is added to it; which is that the Friday prayer is more emphasized than the congregational prayer, then if its obligation is dropped for the traveler, it is all the more so that the obligation of the congregational prayer is dropped for the traveler. However, this does not mean that the congregational prayer is not obligatory for travelers if they are a group. This is what we did just now in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Malik ibn al-Huwayrith: , so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered these two Companions, when they traveled, to call the adhan and establish the iqamah for a congregation, and the imam among them should be the older of the two in age. It appears from this hadith that they were equal in their knowledge and memorization of the Qur'an, ... perhaps you remember with me the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): ; therefore he (peace be upon him) said: ; so we can say that the congregational prayer for travelers is obligatory and not obligatory: it is obligatory for them to pray with one another, but it is not obligatory for them to attend the mosque; because Allah has dropped the obligation of the Friday prayer from them, so it is all the more so that the obligation of the congregation is dropped from them. This is what concerns the traveler.
As for the residents, there is no doubt that it is obligatory for them, whenever they hear the adhan of the mu'adhdhin in the mosque, to respond to it and hasten to the mosque to attend the congregation of the Muslims; due to the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: ; except that there is a sound athar from the Imam of the Sunnah, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), that he was in a session of knowledge waiting for his companions and peers, in the hadith of Yahya ibn Ma'in and others. When the adhan was called for the Zuhr prayer, some of those present indicated that they should rise from that session of knowledge to the prayer. So Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) reassured them by saying that we are in a session of knowledge, so we will pray here as a congregation; meaning: he considered his occupation and that of his companions with knowledge, which is the study of the Book and the Sunnah, as is well known from those Imams; they did not occupy themselves with opinion (ra'y) or with knowledge that is not obligatory like the obligation of studying the Book and the Sunnah. He considered that an excuse for not going to the mosque and establishing the prayer in that place where they were studying knowledge. And the angels surrounded them, and tranquility descended upon them, and mercy enveloped them.
From here we see that if we are residents and we are in a session of knowledge, that it is one of the excuses that permits this group to establish the congregational prayer in the place where the knowledge is, especially if the gathering in that house where knowledge is taught is larger than in some of the mosques, and this sometimes happens. And you, in any case, as it is said: "The people of Makkah know its valleys best." So if we were to rise, for example, all of us as residents, and set out to the nearest mosque to us; would the worshippers there be more or here? If it is here, then there is no doubt that this is a second excuse that justifies us establishing the congregational prayer in our house; because in this case we have combined the virtue of knowledge and the virtue of a larger congregation than that congregation. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and likewise, the prayer of four is purer in the sight of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) than that of three, so the more the number increases, the better it is. But we should be aware finally that this situation should be limited to a situation like the one we mentioned; so that it is not taken as a pretext for laziness or for justifying not responding to the mu'adhdhin in one of the mosques.
Yes.

The questioner: May Allah reward you with good, and may Allah reward you.