The Ruling on Praying in the Workplace and Abandoning the Congregational Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Q: His Eminence Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz - the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (may Allah preserve him), peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
We inform you, His Eminence, that we are a group of employees working in a government department. There is a mosque adjacent to us, separated from us only by a street thirty meters wide, and we hear the call to prayer clearly. We pray in a prayer area we have set up in the office. We have reviewed the fatwa of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta, a copy of which is attached for your Eminence, stating that it is not permissible to pray in a government office next to a mosque, and that employees must pray in the mosque.
The question is: Is it permissible for us to pray in our office in congregation? Or is it obligatory for us to pray in the mosque? And is it permissible for our office manager to compel us to pray in the office without a valid legal excuse?
We request an answer from your Eminence. May Allah preserve you and protect you from all evil. The employees of a government department who are calling for your well-being.
A: And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
It is obligatory for you and for the manager to pray in the mosque, and it is not permissible for you to be absent from it; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 793Sahih (Darussalam) Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about the excuse, and he said: (Fear or illness). It is also established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that a blind man asked him, saying: O Messenger of Allah, I have no guide to lead me to the mosque, so do I have a dispensation to pray in my house? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Sahih Muslim 653 He said: Yes. He said: It was narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih.
And Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said: (I have seen us, and none of us would be absent from it except a known hypocrite or a sick person).
So it is obligatory for all of you to take care to pray in the mosque with the congregation, and not to imitate the enemies of Allah, the hypocrites. May Allah guide you and make your affairs easy.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz
We inform you, His Eminence, that we are a group of employees working in a government department. There is a mosque adjacent to us, separated from us only by a street thirty meters wide, and we hear the call to prayer clearly. We pray in a prayer area we have set up in the office. We have reviewed the fatwa of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta, a copy of which is attached for your Eminence, stating that it is not permissible to pray in a government office next to a mosque, and that employees must pray in the mosque.
The question is: Is it permissible for us to pray in our office in congregation? Or is it obligatory for us to pray in the mosque? And is it permissible for our office manager to compel us to pray in the office without a valid legal excuse?
We request an answer from your Eminence. May Allah preserve you and protect you from all evil. The employees of a government department who are calling for your well-being.
A: And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings. After that:
It is obligatory for you and for the manager to pray in the mosque, and it is not permissible for you to be absent from it; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever hears the call and does not come, his prayer is not valid, except for those who have an excuse.
من سمع النداء فلم يأته فلا صلاة له إلا من عذرDo you hear the call to prayer?
هل تسمع النداء بالصلاة؟Then respond.
فأجبAnd Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), said: (I have seen us, and none of us would be absent from it except a known hypocrite or a sick person).
So it is obligatory for all of you to take care to pray in the mosque with the congregation, and not to imitate the enemies of Allah, the hypocrites. May Allah guide you and make your affairs easy.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.