The Proliferation of Mosques in Our Country Recently: Are There Regulations for Holding Friday Prayer in Another Mosque in the Same Town? And If a Mosque Is Built as a Friday Mosque...

The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : Recently, the number of mosques in our town has increased. Are there regulations for holding Friday prayer in another mosque in the same town? And if a mosque is built as a Friday mosque, is it obligatory to hold Friday prayer there even if there is no need for it? And if it is held, is the Friday prayer valid or not? Knowing that the mosques around it are not full. And does the reward of the one who built it decrease if Friday prayer is not held in it? Please benefit me, may Allah reward you with good. And if the matter is contrary to what people are accustomed to, I ask for advice in clarifying this matter.

The Shaykh : The proliferation of mosques is contrary to the Sunnah. Mosques did not multiply in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nor in the time of Abu Bakr, nor in the time of 'Umar, nor in the time of 'Uthman, nor in the time of 'Ali, nor in the time of Mu'awiyah, nor in the time of the Caliphs. The first time two Friday prayers were held in one town was in the third century of the Hijrah, meaning two hundred years had passed for the Muslims without the multiplication of mosques.
For this reason, the scholars have explicitly stated that it is forbidden to have multiple Friday prayers except out of dire necessity or a pressing need. The proliferation of mosques in towns today is undoubtedly contrary to the Sunnah. If there is a mosque and people do not need an addition, and another person builds a mosque around it, it is considered a mosque of harm that divides the Muslims. And Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): He said: These are the ones who build mosques as Friday mosques around the original Friday mosques without need. They are undoubtedly not subject to the objectives of the hypocrites, meaning they did not intend harm, disbelief, or lying in wait for those who fought Allah and His Messenger. But what happened? The division of the believers. The people of the neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods gather in one place with one imam in one mosque. Then a person builds a Friday mosque to divide them, because the people will disperse. We say he is closer to sin than to safety, let alone reward. He is not rewarded because he divided the Muslims, and he has no reward in this. But does he sin or not? We say that this mosque caused harm to the other mosque. And the jurists have explicitly stated in their books: "Whoever builds a mosque next to another mosque to harm it, the later one must be demolished" It must be demolished, even if its owner endowed it, because it harmed the other mosque around it. So the matter is serious. Now you find the people of the town dispersing. For example, seven or eight mosques. If they gathered in two mosques, that would suffice. But you find them dispersing. Then the preachers also differ; this one preaches on a topic, and this one preaches on a topic, and this one preaches on a topic. So the people disperse and their ideas differ because of the dispersal of the preachers. So the matter is very serious. It is not permissible for a person—we are addressing the general public—it is not permissible for a person to build a Friday mosque around another Friday mosque without dire necessity or a pressing need. If he does so, it is considered a mosque of harm. As for Friday, people may need it for the five daily prayers, but for Friday, people come from far away. They used to come from al-'Ulaya to the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And in our lands, we used to know that they would come from the valley, from the bridge between 'Unayzah and Buraydah, and come here to pray in one mosque. But it is true that now the town has dispersed and grown, but it does not need these many mosques. You find one neighborhood where there is only a short walk between them, and they make a mosque where prayer is held. And you find in this mosque half the mosque empty, and in the other one, half the mosque empty. We ask Allah for guidance for us and for them. Yes.