If people disagree regarding the removal of the mats that occupy the mosque, whose opinion is followed?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : All right, if people disagree in a mosque.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : They said, “Remove these mats.”
The Shaykh : They are occupying our space.
The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: ... O Shaykh ... the ones with the patterns of the plain things, like these.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: Most people say that they do not occupy [the space].
The Shaykh : No, these do not occupy [the space], these do not occupy [the space], there is no problem with them.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : But there is something with patterns, however, considering that a person has taken them, he does not pay attention to them at all, he does not pay attention, and although perhaps he might, but it is rare, and perhaps even a person’s garment sometimes he thinks about its stitching, or that there is a tear in it, or something he might think about.
The questioner : If he comes out of the congregation.
The Shaykh : Rather, this issue is if the people of the mosque disagree, and some of them say, “We do not want these mats because they distract us,” and others say, “No, they do not distract us,” so do we follow those who said they do not distract us and tell the others, “Place something plain on your place of prostration, bring a piece of cloth or something else and place it?” Or do we say we consider the majority?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes? It appears that this is the correct approach: to follow those who are most present in the mosque, not just the most numerous, but the most present in the mosque. If, for example, the number is large this time, but these people do not attend the mosque, they are not considered the majority. So we consider those who are most present in the mosque and most resident in the mosque, and we follow their opinion.
The questioner : ... The weaker opinion, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes? No ... , the weaker is a relative matter, we cannot know which one is weaker, ... tangible weakness, this is psychological weakness. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : They said, “Remove these mats.”
The Shaykh : They are occupying our space.
The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: ... O Shaykh ... the ones with the patterns of the plain things, like these.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: Most people say that they do not occupy [the space].
The Shaykh : No, these do not occupy [the space], these do not occupy [the space], there is no problem with them.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : But there is something with patterns, however, considering that a person has taken them, he does not pay attention to them at all, he does not pay attention, and although perhaps he might, but it is rare, and perhaps even a person’s garment sometimes he thinks about its stitching, or that there is a tear in it, or something he might think about.
The questioner : If he comes out of the congregation.
The Shaykh : Rather, this issue is if the people of the mosque disagree, and some of them say, “We do not want these mats because they distract us,” and others say, “No, they do not distract us,” so do we follow those who said they do not distract us and tell the others, “Place something plain on your place of prostration, bring a piece of cloth or something else and place it?” Or do we say we consider the majority?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes? It appears that this is the correct approach: to follow those who are most present in the mosque, not just the most numerous, but the most present in the mosque. If, for example, the number is large this time, but these people do not attend the mosque, they are not considered the majority. So we consider those who are most present in the mosque and most resident in the mosque, and we follow their opinion.
The questioner : ... The weaker opinion, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes? No ... , the weaker is a relative matter, we cannot know which one is weaker, ... tangible weakness, this is psychological weakness. Yes.