The Excuse of the Negligent: “If Others Tell Us, We Will Act”

Question

If there is a settlement or village where there are forty or fifty houses of Muslims, and there is neither a mosque there nor any scholar (‘alim), will the people of that settlement be sinners? Or, if in some settlement or village there is a mosque, and within that settlement there is a population of one hundred fifty or two hundred houses of Muslims, and there everyone knows that prayer is obligatory, and fasting too is obligatory, and zakat and Hajj are also obligatory — and, for example, the settlement has two…

Answer

In any settlement where Muslims reside, they should, according to their means, arrange for a mosque there and perform the prayer in congregation. If, despite having the ability, they fail to do so, they will be sinners. In every settlement where Muslims are present in sufficient number, it is also necessary that there be a scholar (‘alim) to teach the rulings of the Shari‘a.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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