and they must repeat it within its prescribed time, or perform the noon prayer once that time has elapsed. The same applies to a place of permanent settlement, according to one interpretation; the more evident view, however, is that it is a condition of obligation alone.
Section
As for the mosque, it has been said that it is a condition of both obligation and validity, like the imam and the congregation. This follows the view that only a roofed building constitutes a mosque, citing as evidence the words of Allah, Almighty and Majestic:
“In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised” [al-Nūr: 36],
and the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
“Whoever builds a mosque, even one the size of a sandgrouse’s nesting hollow…”—to the end of the hadith.
A mosque meeting this description may or may not be available. When none is available, it is a condition of obligation; when one is available, it is a condition of validity. Applying this reasoning, Judge Abū al-Walīd al-Bājī issued a ruling concerning the people of a village whose mosque had collapsed and remained roofless when Friday came, before they had rebuilt it: their Friday prayer there would not be valid, and they should instead offer the noon prayer as four units.
This is an unlikely view, because once a mosque has become a mosque, it does not cease to be one when it collapses. Rather, it retains both its designation and its legal status, even though an open site selected for building a mosque cannot properly be called a mosque before it is built.
It has also been said that the mosque is a condition of validity, but not of obligation. This follows the view that an open space becomes a mosque, and is called a mosque, through its designation and permanent dedication to prayer, with the intention of making it a place for prayer. For a site suitable for use as a mosque is never lacking. Since it is always available and can be secured in every circumstance, it is a condition of validity, like the sermon and the other obligatory elements of prayer. This is the reasoning behind this view.
No one can validly maintain that the mosque is not a condition of validity, since there is no disagreement that the Friday prayer cannot validly be held anywhere other than a mosque. Some scholars have held that it can validly be held only in the main congregational mosque. Al-Bājī adopted this view, saying that if some impediment prevented it from being held in