Also, among their questions, they say: We are eight individuals residing in a school located approximately half a kilometer from the mosque.
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The questioner : We are eight individuals residing in a school located approximately half a kilometer from the mosque. We perform our prayers in the school, either in congregation or individually, and we do not go to perform them in the village mosque. We know that prayer is not permissible except in the mosque as long as it is nearby, and we heard on your program *Nur 'ala al-Darb* that it is not permissible to pray except in the mosque as long as we hear the adhan. Is our past prayer valid, or is it obligatory for us to make it up? We ask you for guidance.
The Shaykh : Your past prayers, which you performed in the school despite the mosque being close to you, are valid. First, because you did not know that praying in the mosque is obligatory.
Second, because you performed the congregational prayer, and many scholars have stated that the obligatory prayer is the congregational prayer, whether in mosques or elsewhere, even though the stronger position is that it must be in the mosque.
Third, the stronger position is that the individual prayer is valid, even if one is able to join the congregation. By our saying it is valid, we mean that one’s obligation is discharged by it, and it is not required to make it up. However, one commits a sin by leaving the congregation. The evidence for its validity is the hadith of Ibn 'Umar and the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them) regarding the preference of the congregational prayer over the individual prayer. The preference of the congregational prayer over the individual prayer indicates that the individual prayer carries reward, and it cannot carry reward unless it is valid. However, it is valid, with the sin upon the one who was able to pray with the congregation in the mosque.
The questioner : Also, the brothers are asking, O honorable Shaykh, and they say.
The Shaykh : Your past prayers, which you performed in the school despite the mosque being close to you, are valid. First, because you did not know that praying in the mosque is obligatory.
Second, because you performed the congregational prayer, and many scholars have stated that the obligatory prayer is the congregational prayer, whether in mosques or elsewhere, even though the stronger position is that it must be in the mosque.
Third, the stronger position is that the individual prayer is valid, even if one is able to join the congregation. By our saying it is valid, we mean that one’s obligation is discharged by it, and it is not required to make it up. However, one commits a sin by leaving the congregation. The evidence for its validity is the hadith of Ibn 'Umar and the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them) regarding the preference of the congregational prayer over the individual prayer. The preference of the congregational prayer over the individual prayer indicates that the individual prayer carries reward, and it cannot carry reward unless it is valid. However, it is valid, with the sin upon the one who was able to pray with the congregation in the mosque.
The questioner : Also, the brothers are asking, O honorable Shaykh, and they say.