The ruling on praying in wedding halls when a mosque is nearby

Question:
The questioner: Your Eminence, wedding halls host wedding parties, and people pray inside the wedding halls. The mosque is one hundred meters away from them. Is their prayer valid?

Answer:
The Shaykh: Their prayer is valid, but they are sinful. They commit a sin; their prayer is valid, but they are sinful because they abandoned the mosque and did not pray with their brothers. It is obligatory for them to pray with their brothers in the mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not order those who lagged behind to repeat the prayer; he did not order them to repeat it, but he threatened them that he would burn their houses. He said: meaning: a complete prayer. Otherwise, it suffices according to the scholars, but it is obligatory for them to pray with the congregation. They have no right to take a dispensation to pray in wedding halls, nor in their gatherings. Rather, they must pray in the mosques near them where they hear the call to prayer. They hear the call to prayer, and they have no excuse of illness or fear. They must pray with the people, and they must not pray in their houses or in wedding halls. The state must attend to this through the committees and the emirates so that they prevent them from this behavior. There is information about this at the Ministry of the Interior and at the committees, and they pay attention to this matter. We ask Allah to grant them success.