Placing a Handkerchief or Prayer Mat in the Mosque to Reserve a Place

Question

If a person goes to a mosque or to some gathering circle and the like, and on going there places some cloth or the like for his seat, may another person come and sit in that place or not? And if someone does sit, is it permissible for the first person to quarrel with this second person or not? Kindly write the proof.

Answer

If a person came and sat in some place, and then some urgent need arose, upon fulfilling which he will return right away — for example, spitting, blowing the nose, making wudu and the like — and on leaving he put a cloth in his place, there is no harm in this, and it is also improper for another person to sit in his place.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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