What is the ruling on Friday mosques being close to one another?
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The questioner : Noble Shaykh, what is the ruling on the proximity of mosques, specifically Friday mosques, to one another?
The Shaykh : The answer is that this is left to the ministry concerned with such affairs. The original principle is that it is not permissible to have multiple congregations except out of necessity, whether due to the distance between mosques, their narrowness, or the fear of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) between tribes, or the like. This is the original principle.
Therefore, there was no multiple congregations in the early period of Islam except in the third century. Otherwise, all the people would gather in one mosque. This is the meaning of the statement that Friday is a festival: that all the people gather in one mosque so that they see one another, and so that the congregation is large and this prayer has a distinction over the others. However, this is a matter left to those responsible for mosques in the state, and they must look at what aligns with the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law). As for the general public, let them pray in any of these Friday mosques.
The Shaykh : The answer is that this is left to the ministry concerned with such affairs. The original principle is that it is not permissible to have multiple congregations except out of necessity, whether due to the distance between mosques, their narrowness, or the fear of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) between tribes, or the like. This is the original principle.
Therefore, there was no multiple congregations in the early period of Islam except in the third century. Otherwise, all the people would gather in one mosque. This is the meaning of the statement that Friday is a festival: that all the people gather in one mosque so that they see one another, and so that the congregation is large and this prayer has a distinction over the others. However, this is a matter left to those responsible for mosques in the state, and they must look at what aligns with the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law). As for the general public, let them pray in any of these Friday mosques.