What is the ruling on office workers establishing a prayer area in their offices if the mosque is four hundred meters away?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, the mosque is about four hundred meters from the workplace. Some of the brothers or colleagues at work say, “If we set up a prayer area in one of the offices,” and they cite the heat of the sun and the distance of the mosque as their excuse.
The Shaykh : What we see is that there is nothing wrong with office workers praying in their offices if going out to the mosque would cause work to be disrupted, or would lead to some employees playing games by leaving and not coming back. Some employees leave to pray but do not pray; they go home. Or, as I said, it is far away. Or, if they went out to the mosque, people would be harmed by them, such as if they were students. If, for example, one hundred students or more went to the mosque, people might be harmed by their playfulness. So, the important point is that if there is a benefit or a need for them to pray in their offices, there is no blame on them. Yes.
The Shaykh : What we see is that there is nothing wrong with office workers praying in their offices if going out to the mosque would cause work to be disrupted, or would lead to some employees playing games by leaving and not coming back. Some employees leave to pray but do not pray; they go home. Or, as I said, it is far away. Or, if they went out to the mosque, people would be harmed by them, such as if they were students. If, for example, one hundred students or more went to the mosque, people might be harmed by their playfulness. So, the important point is that if there is a benefit or a need for them to pray in their offices, there is no blame on them. Yes.