In our place in Algeria, it is forbidden for people to pray outside the mosque, and sometimes the mosque becomes crowded with the worshippers. Is it permissible for a man to prostrate on the back of his brother?

The questioner : We have the Friday prayer here, and it is forbidden for a person to pray outside the mosque; he must pray inside the mosque.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!

The questioner : So if the mosque is full.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!
The student : Where is this, my brother?

The Shaykh : Algeria.

The questioner : Yes, if he prays outside the mosque, he is taken to the center.

The Shaykh: Allah is the Greatest!

The questioner : So the prayer must be inside the mosque, but sometimes the mosque fills up with worshippers. Is it permissible for a person to prostrate on the back of his brother, or how does he manage now?

The Shaykh : It is this.
The student : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible on the back of the brother in front of him. Allah is the Greatest. "The crisis will ease after it tightens."
The student : Okay, there is no mosque...
Another student: How much can the mosque hold? A thousand?
The student : ... .
Another student: Now they rush to the mosques. The latecomer sometimes does not pray; he returns home. There is no place. If he prays outside on the road, a car comes and takes him, even while he is praying...
The student : Do they extend his detention?

The Shaykh : Do the Jews not do this in your place?
The student: No.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
The student : ...By Allah, my brother, we talk to them, and I swear by Allah, it is the harshest talk. I was sitting with the governor's assistant, this advisor. This was before the intifada. He said to me, "You, usually they bring people, they ask them questions, and they talk to them."

The Shaykh : ... .
The student : ...They respect you, but they hate you. But they respect you if you give your opinion, even if they disagree with you.

The Shaykh : This is hypocrisy. "They give you sweetness from one side and deceive you as a fox deceives."
The student : And from this, as it is said: "A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend." So I remember he said to me, "Who do the people in your place support?" I said to him, "By Allah, the people..." He said, "Okay, from our side, we cannot negotiate with Yasser Arafat because he is a terrorist." I said to him, "Do you want me to tell you my opinion?" He said, "Tell me your opinion." I said to him, "You now consider your national hero to be the person you love and respect most, which is Menachem Begin, who was the Prime Minister."

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : And so he is the national hero for you. And this man did the King David Hotel bombing when he blew it up, he placed bombs and blew it up... like you would say the Sheraton or the Hilton, the biggest hotel in Jerusalem, and they killed... and he was a mediator in the state, and they did several operations.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, what was the purpose of the bombing?
The student : Because the British were gathered in the hotel, and he considered the British to be restricting them as well. So when he blew up the King David Hotel, it was a very famous incident, like you would say, how was the incident in New York, the World Trade Center? So I said to him, "You specifically... regarding Menachem Begin's action, it is national liberation. The man is liberating his country, and therefore he finds anything suitable."

The Shaykh : "The end justifies the means."
The student : The end justifies the means, and we say that Yasser Arafat did the same thing. He said, "Listen, this talk, you can say it in Syria or in Jordan." I said to him, "No, by Allah, I cannot say it, I cannot say it. Of course, if you took action against me, he took action. On the contrary, I was forbidden from traveling during that period, believe me. The intelligence officer was preventing me from traveling for a year and a half. This person... showed me respect because I said this... and he worked for me to get me out, allowing me to be taken to the East Bank. Notice that he, for example, might very well hate me, but he respected me because I spoke with strength about my opinion and did not pander to him. I said to him, "My lord, and I don't know how to put it, I spoke to him with a kind of firmness, but I did not challenge him. I spoke... unfortunately, you are the one I praised. I was arrested, and my son was arrested, and my other son was arrested a month and a half ago. Not one of them was prevented from praying. We were, by Allah, my brother...

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
The student : They arrested us. We were praying, and the ground under us was water. The whole ground was water. All of us, and the shaykhs, prayed. Do not blame me if so-and-so objected. The Jews objected, standing in front of us while we were praying. We were crying and making du'a, and not even...

The Shaykh : Where in Syria, in Algeria? I seek refuge in Allah, they are more than the disbelievers.
The student : May Allah fight the Jews, because by Allah, my brother, and therefore, my teacher, when it was said that you, during this period where some problems occurred, truly, how much do we hate the Jews? They are criminals and lowly, and all the words in the dictionary. But truly, mostly they do not prevent you from performing the rituals of prayer. As I told you, my son was accused of a big thing and spent ninety days in investigation, in a cell, beaten and killed, but not once did they prevent him from praying. Do you see? They did not prevent me from praying.

The Shaykh : Yes, but I remember an incident opposite to that, like...
The student : On my head, on my head. But as for the matter of prayer...

The Shaykh : But these people have no religion, no decision... politics suggests to them such methods. O Allah, I praise You, I testify that there is no god but You, I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
The student : Health and well-being.

The Shaykh : May Allah keep you in health.
The student : The man was leading people in prayer because the one who prays is more memorized of the Book of Allah than the preacher.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student : Is it possible?

The Shaykh : Excuse me, peace be upon you.