Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamualaim

I am Residing in free zone area and there are no mosques near to the office .Is it acceptable to pray the namaz in the office. Will Allah subhaanahutalah accepts the namaz of me

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Answer:

Pray alone no mosque

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Performing the obligatory prayers in congregation is an absolutely preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) for the believing males of the Ummah.

Ibn 'Umar reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "Prayer in congregation is superior to a prayer performed individually by twenty-seven degrees."

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

It would obviously be preferred, best, and closest to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) that the believing males offer their obligatory prayers in congregation in the dedicated Houses of Allah Subhanah (Majids); and if that is not possible for an absolutely genuine and valid reason, then the next best thing is to offer it in congregation with the brothers wherever one is; and if even that too is not possible, the absolute last legal and lawful option is to offer it alone.

Abu Hurairah reports that a blind man came and said to the Prophet (saws): "O Messenger of Allah (saws), (I am blind and) I have no guide to guide me to the mosque." He asked the Prophet (saws) for permission to pray in his house and the Prophet (saws) gave it to him. Then, when he turned to go, the Prophet (saws) called him back and said: "Do you hear the call to prayer (adhaan)?" The blind man said "Yes, O Messenger of Allah (saws)" The Prophet (saws) said: "Then respond to it!" [by coming to the mosque.]

Related by Muslim.

Abu Hurairah also reports that the Prophet (saws) said: "By Him in whose Hand is my soul! I have considered ordering a fire to be kindled and then ask someone to lead the people in salah, and then go to the men [who did not attend the prayer in congregation] and burn their houses over them!"

Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.626 Narrated by Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "No prayer is harder for the hypocrites than the Fajr and the 'Isha' prayers and if they knew the reward for these prayers at their respective times, they would certainly present themselves (in the mosques) even if they had to crawl." The Prophet (saw) added, "Certainly I decided to order the Mu'adhdhin (call-maker) to pronounce Iqama and order a man to lead the prayer, and then take a fire flame to burn all those who had not left their houses so far for the prayer, along with their houses!"

If one, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, only contemplates on the above words of the Messenger of Allah (saws), about whom Allah Subhanah Himself Declares in His Quran “We sent you not (O Mohamed (saws)), except as a Mercy to all the worlds” (21:107); one would realize how much importance the Prophet (saws) gave to the obligatory prayers being performed in congregation in the Mosques! Unless and until one has an extremely valid reason to leave performing the obligatory prayers in congregation in the Mosques, it would not behove and befit a believer who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day to do so.

Your Question: I am Residing in free zone area and there are no mosques near to the office .Is it acceptable to pray the namaz in the office. Will Allah subhaanahutalah accepts the namaz of me

Dear and beloved brother, if there is absolutely no ‘masjid’ within walking, or a reasonably short drive, or in the vicinity where you live or work….then the next best thing would be to offer your obligatory prayers in congregation with the believers wherever you may be.

Narrated Abu Dharr al-Ghaffari (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Wherever you may be, at the time of salah, you may pray, for it [the whole earth] is all a ‘masjid’."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 64 Surah Tagabhun verse 16:

16 So fear Allah as much as ye can; listen and obey; and spend in charity for the benefit of your own souls: and those saved from the covetousness of their own souls they are the ones that achieve prosperity.

Islam Guides the believers to fear Allah as much as they possibly can; thus if you have striven the necessary striving to offer your obligatory prayers in the ‘masjids’, failing which you strove to offer it in congregation with the believers in a place other than the ‘masjid’, and failing which you offered it alone…..it is expected that your Lord Most Merciful will accept your due striving and will not diminish your reward in the least, Insha Allah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan