Thursday, September 6, 2012

Praying Jumu‘ah in the neighbourhood mosqueis better unless there is some purpose to be served by going to a more distant mosque

''Friday Prayers'' :-:->
We live in a western country, and many of the brothers in the mosque
dislike the imam, because his khutbahs are too long and he reviles the
people. Should we pray behind him or go to the Turkish mosque? There
is no thirdmosque, only these two. Please advise us, may Allah reward
you.
Praise be to Allaah.
If the imam reviles the people and causes difficulties for them by
making his khutbah too long, then there is nothing wrong with
thempraying Jumu'ah in the other mosque. Rather there is nothing wrong
in the first place with a person praying in whichever of the two
mosques he wants, but it is better if he prays in his neighbourhood
mosque, unless there are things in the Turkish mosque that are
contrary to sharee'ah, that you have not mentioned, which made you
feel reluctant to move to it. In that case you should tell us about
that.
You should advise the imam and call upon him to make the khutbah
shorter and pay attention to the congregation's situation.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) was asked: Is it
permissible for a worshipper on Friday to leave the mosque that is in
his own locality and go to another mosque that isfurther away, because
thekhateeb there is more knowledgeable and speaks well.
He replied: It is better for the people of a neighbourhood to pray in
their own mosque, so thatthey can get to know one another and create
friendships among themselves, and thus encourage one another. But if a
person goes to another mosque for religious benefits, such as
acquiring knowledge or listening to a khutbah that will have more of
an impact on him and help him gain more knowledge, there is nothing
wrong with that. The Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) used to
pray with the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) in his mosque, because of the virtue of the imam and the virtue
of the mosque, then they would go and pray in their local mosques, as
Mu'aadh (may Allah be pleased with him) used to do at the time of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) knew about that butdid not
rebuke him.

And Allah knows best.

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