The ruling on praying in a prayer area within the workplace when a nearby mosque is adjacent
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Question:
The person who asked this question presents a problem, saying: After the peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you, I inform you, our honorable father the Shaykh, that I work in the city of Riyadh in a government hospital, and praise be to Allah. There is a very small prayer area within the work premises where I and my colleagues pray. In the same area, there are lockers for changing clothes and a bathroom. Because of our work and the tightness of time, we are unable to go to the mosque. At the same time, disbelievers come to this narrow area to smoke, due to their work with us, specifically during the times of prayer, despite the fact that we have warned them several times, but to no avail.
The question is: Is our prayer in this area permissible or not? Knowing that if we pray in this area, we do not attain khushu' (humility), because we smell the smoke.
Second: Are we able to go to the main mosque inside the hospital and leave our work, because this is closer to our work? Please inform us, may Allah preserve you.
Answer:
It is obligatory for you to pray in the mosque, and it is not permissible for you to pray in this prayer area. It is obligatory that you fear Allah and go to the mosque. Go to the nearest mosque to you and pray with the Muslims. And you must disapprove of what the disbelievers are doing to you, and complain about them to the person in charge. Even if they were Muslims, it is not permissible to allow them to openly smoke and commit sin. How much more so when they are disbelievers? The disbelievers must be removed from this island. Effort must be made to remove them from this island, and they should not be brought to the island. This is because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) advised to remove them from the island. It is obligatory to seek the help of the authorities to keep them away and not bring them in, and that only a Muslim should be brought in. And if they display what is wrong, it is obligatory for the person responsible for them to prevent them from smoking and other things, or from harming the Muslims, or from obstructing them from prayer, or the like of that. This is the obligation of the person in charge, whether the head of a department or the head of a company. He must fear Allah the Exalted.
The person who asked this question presents a problem, saying: After the peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you, I inform you, our honorable father the Shaykh, that I work in the city of Riyadh in a government hospital, and praise be to Allah. There is a very small prayer area within the work premises where I and my colleagues pray. In the same area, there are lockers for changing clothes and a bathroom. Because of our work and the tightness of time, we are unable to go to the mosque. At the same time, disbelievers come to this narrow area to smoke, due to their work with us, specifically during the times of prayer, despite the fact that we have warned them several times, but to no avail.
The question is: Is our prayer in this area permissible or not? Knowing that if we pray in this area, we do not attain khushu' (humility), because we smell the smoke.
Second: Are we able to go to the main mosque inside the hospital and leave our work, because this is closer to our work? Please inform us, may Allah preserve you.
Answer:
It is obligatory for you to pray in the mosque, and it is not permissible for you to pray in this prayer area. It is obligatory that you fear Allah and go to the mosque. Go to the nearest mosque to you and pray with the Muslims. And you must disapprove of what the disbelievers are doing to you, and complain about them to the person in charge. Even if they were Muslims, it is not permissible to allow them to openly smoke and commit sin. How much more so when they are disbelievers? The disbelievers must be removed from this island. Effort must be made to remove them from this island, and they should not be brought to the island. This is because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) advised to remove them from the island. It is obligatory to seek the help of the authorities to keep them away and not bring them in, and that only a Muslim should be brought in. And if they display what is wrong, it is obligatory for the person responsible for them to prevent them from smoking and other things, or from harming the Muslims, or from obstructing them from prayer, or the like of that. This is the obligation of the person in charge, whether the head of a department or the head of a company. He must fear Allah the Exalted.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.