Going to another mosque for the sake of the first takbir

Question

Question: Zayd studies at a madrasa. He performed wudu’ in the madrasa mosque; the congregation had already stood [for prayer] and part of the prayer had already been performed, so on finishing his wudu’ he goes to some nearby mosque so that there he may also obtain the reward of the first takbir (takbir al-ula). Is this permissible for him or not? What is the ruling? “Leaving the mosque before praying” is makruh tahrimi, and its ‘illa (effective cause) or hikma (underlying wisdom) is suspicion (tuhma)

Answer

In “Fatawa Rashidiyya” (vol. 1, p. 28) it says: “One should by no means leave the congregation and go to another mosque in order to catch the whole prayer with an imam, for [this is] an evident turning away from the congregation of the Muslims; moreover, catching the prayer elsewhere is only a possibility, the right of this mosque is violated, and [it all] has the appearance…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.