We are students at one of the institutes, far from our area, and there is a large dining hall in this institute divided into two sections: a section for food and a section for prayer, with
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The questioner : We are students studying at one of the institutes and living far from our area. There is a large dining hall in this institute, and this hall is divided into two sections: a section for food and a section for prayer, with a barrier between the two sections. We pray in the section prepared for prayer, even though there is a mosque in this area about seven minutes’ walk from us. Is there a reward for us in praying in congregation with an imam from among us in this section prepared for prayer at the prescribed times, just like a mosque? Does it take the place of the mosque? And what do we call this section of the prayer place? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : We call this section a musalla (prayer place), and the rulings of a mosque do not apply to it. Selling and buying are permissible in it, and it is not specific to the greeting of the mosque (Tahiyyat al-Masjid). However, if a person enters it to perform a prayer, it is a valid prayer. As for establishing the congregation in it while a mosque is nearby, this is based on the disagreement of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them). Is it obligatory for the congregational prayer that people gather behind one imam in a mosque or elsewhere, or must the congregational prayer be in a mosque? Some scholars said the former, and some scholars said the latter. Some scholars said that the intended meaning of the congregation is that they are in one house, even if a mosque is near them. Others said: The congregation must be in a mosque. This opinion is stronger than the first opinion. But if these students were to go to the mosque, they would cause disorder among the people of the mosque due to their large number, or they would become disorganized themselves, or some of them would go out and wander in the markets and not attend the mosque, and their gathering in this place is more orderly and further from causing disturbance, then their prayer in this place is better than going to the mosque and causing harm or disturbance, or some of them dispersing to wander in the markets, so that he does not pray with the congregation or alone.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : We call this section a musalla (prayer place), and the rulings of a mosque do not apply to it. Selling and buying are permissible in it, and it is not specific to the greeting of the mosque (Tahiyyat al-Masjid). However, if a person enters it to perform a prayer, it is a valid prayer. As for establishing the congregation in it while a mosque is nearby, this is based on the disagreement of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them). Is it obligatory for the congregational prayer that people gather behind one imam in a mosque or elsewhere, or must the congregational prayer be in a mosque? Some scholars said the former, and some scholars said the latter. Some scholars said that the intended meaning of the congregation is that they are in one house, even if a mosque is near them. Others said: The congregation must be in a mosque. This opinion is stronger than the first opinion. But if these students were to go to the mosque, they would cause disorder among the people of the mosque due to their large number, or they would become disorganized themselves, or some of them would go out and wander in the markets and not attend the mosque, and their gathering in this place is more orderly and further from causing disturbance, then their prayer in this place is better than going to the mosque and causing harm or disturbance, or some of them dispersing to wander in the markets, so that he does not pray with the congregation or alone.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.