 As-Salamu Alaikum Wr Rahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. Welcome to Ahkam SOS. The show that discusses the duties and practices of a Muslim in accordance with the rulings by his eminence, the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Salih Shirazi May Allah Prolong his life. I am Muslim inshallah and joining me is Sheikh Ali Mahmash. As-Salamu Alaikum Sheikh Mahmash. As-Salamu Alaikum Wr Rahmatullahi. How are you Sheikh Mahmash? How are you? As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. As-Salamu Alaikum. The criteria and what makes you Salah stagnant if you pray in these areas. I wanted to ask you in regards to the opposite gender, because we're mainly focused on males, but when males and females come together and they have to pray is she acceptable for a sister to pray very close to a male. With regard to the praying of a female close to a male in the prayers, now we have two scenarios. The first scenario, if it's the Salah is prayed separately, not with the Jama'ah, in other words for Adah, so you prayed separately alone. And then you have the second scenario, which is the Salat al-Jama'ah. We begin with the second scenario, there's no way that a woman can pray in front of a man or group of men in the Salat al-Jama'ah, so the ladies should go back and pray behind the men. They can't be, let's say, in the first line of the Salat al-Jama'ah, all female, and the second and third are male, that's not allowed. So with the Salat al-Jama'ah, there's no way that she can go and pray in front of the men. With regard to the Furadah Salah and praying alone, so let's say that a husband and a wife, a sister and a brother, or a sister and her father, they want to pray in one room, let's say, and close to each other. What is the Hukum? With regard to this Hukum and rule, ulama have said that, some ulama, that if a male prays next to a female, be it a close relative or even a stranger, the Salat will be bother for both, to pray next to each other, Salat will be bother and void, and there must be at least roughly five meters distance, it's almost sixteen foot distance, so they can pray parallel or even the female can pray ahead of the men, but with this distance, otherwise they can't pray next to each other. That's the opinion of the ulama, or some of the ulama. However, he states in his Rasala that you are allowed to pray next to a female if you're a male or vice versa, and it's not wajib that you distance yourself from the female or vice versa, but it is makruh that a man prays next to a woman. Or the woman is ahead in the front of the man, just few, let's say, few inches, for example. That's makruh, but for the Sayyid, he says it won't make the Salat bother and void. You can't pray, so let's say the small room, husband and wife, they both stand next to each other and they perform the Salat, again, farada, separate in jama'a, and they begin together, reading the Surah and Hamd and so forth. So they can actually commence the Salat next to each other, but with kara'ah and dislike. But as I've said, other ulama might say also that this causes the Salat to be bothered, so the one goes back to his marja, and he checks. Otherwise the Sayyid allows it, but with being makruh and dislike. Thank you very much, Sheikh. Sheikh, what about places with mustahab to pray Salat? Does the Sayyid actually discuss and recommend for us to go to pray Salat in these places? Of course, the Sayyid mentions four main places that his mustahab to go and perform the Salat. So he begins with praying in the mosque of al-Majjid al-Haram in Makkah, where the Ka'ba is. So that is the first place to pray there, and followed by the Majjid al-Nabi, in Medina. And there is actually a hadith from the Prophet, with regard to praying in his mosque, in Medina. He said, praying in the mosque of the Prophet, in Medina is compared to 50,000 of Salat. Imagine if you pray two rak'ah outside Medina, let's say in London, you pray in two rak'ah. But if you pray them in the mosque of the Medina, of the Prophet, you get 50,000 of those rak'ah. So a huge, huge thawab and reward. Also, the third mosque is Majjid al-Kufa in Iraq, just close to Najaf city. And then, Majjid al-Aqsa, the Majjid of Betul-Maghdis in Jerusalem, Ahsanat. That's the fourth main mosque that his mustahab to pray there as well. And then the Sayyid says, the grand mosque of every city. So you begin to go to, for example, the mosques of the main, in a city, let's say in London, you have the grand mosque, or in Birmingham, for example, in Manchester, for example. And of course, the local mosques as well, and even the market mosque. So the thawab goes gradually down to these different types of mosques. Masha'Allah, Ahsanat Sheikh Khan is very, very inspiring. But what about the holy shrines of the Ahnawait? What about Karbala and Najaf? Does the Sayyid not mention anything there? Then the Sayyid goes and brings and details the reward for praying in these shrines. He says the Salah and the praying in the Haram of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, the commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, is equal to 200,000 Salah, imagine. 200,000. Exactly. So we had 50,000 in Mecca, in Medina. Medina, yes. And now we've got 200,000 in Najaf. Exactly. Masha'Allah. And then he mentions that every rakah of Salah at the shrine of Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, in Karbala, every rakah, not the whole Salah. So the Salah is for rakah. Yes. So every rakah at the shrine of Imam Hussain, peace be upon him, is equal to the freeing of 1,000 slaves. Masha'Allah. And equals to 1,000 Hajj and 1,000 of Umrah, imagine. Masha'Allah. Great thawab. So imagine how the rewards of praying in these such places. And don't forget that Karbala land has a greater thawab and greater status in the sight of Allah than any other lands. We have narration of that. Yes. So such a great thawab encourages the believer, the mu'min, the one who loves Ahlul Bayt, alayhim salam, to go there and always visit their graves and perform the prayers there, especially the Jama'a prayer, especially the daily prayers, to get those rewards. Because on the day of judgment, the one needs Hassana Wahide. You know, you need that one reward in order to elevate you to higher levels of paradise. Hassan, Shaykh, Hassan Alayhim. I pray that Allah SWT gives you the tawfeeq and the ability to visit Aba Abdelah al-Hussain to his diyaar and insha'Allah, to pray the Salah, insha'Allah. Insha'Allah. And to the viewers as well, insha'Allah, you get the opportunity to go visit Karbala and be able to pray in the holy shrine of Aba Abdelah. Shaykh, what about for the sisters and for the ladies? Is it encouraged for them as well to go to the mosque and pray, or is it better for them to stay at home? Well, initially it's preferred for the woman, the mu'min woman, the pious mu'minah to stay at home and pray at home. But however, if she observes the hijab well and protects herself from the strangers, then of course it's better for her to go to the mosque and perform the prayer inside the mosque, especially with the Jama'a, in which there would be much higher and higher. So, yeah, I mean, it depends on the hijab. There is good hijab, I mean, observed well, then it's better to go to the mosque. The hijab is poor, then no, let her stay at home and pray at home, which is better. You're saying, you know, if the hijab is not good, she should stay at home. I do believe that there is a ruling in terms of if you live close proximity to the mosque, if you're a neighbour to the mosque, what about in that case then? Should she force herself to go to the mosque and pray, or should she still stay at home? Well, regarding the ladies, as I've said, be it a nearby mosque or far away mosque, the hijab is the axis which plays, you know, with regard to the ruling of the woman to go out. If the hijab is well, then she can go and it's better for her, of course, to attend the Jama'a and pray Jama'a. But with regard to neighbouring the mosque in overall, and especially for the men. Now, we have a hadith which says, and Ali, peace be upon him, he says, The Imam, peace be upon him, says, the Salah won't be that highly rewarded unless the one prays it inside the mosque, the one who is closed and neighbours at the mosque. So it's better for him to go and pray inside the mosque. But the Imam mentions the conditions and exceptions. He says, Unless he has an excuse, he can't go out. You know, there are kids to take care of, for example. Or that person has an illness, paralyzed, disabled, for example. In this case, yeah, that's fine. Otherwise, it's better, more encouraged, more rewarding for this person to go and pray inside the mosque, rather than staying at home and praying at home. Last, Salah doesn't mean the Salah will be not accepted, no. The reward will be less if you pray at home, and there's no excuse, no issues. So if we relate this hadith to the sisters, should they go to the mosque then, if they live close? Of course, if they live close, and they observe they have a job well, well, it's better, as the head mentions, in the previous mas'ala, that's better for them to go and pray, even the Jama'a as well. Yes, of course. Yes, definitely. And also the hadith continues, I didn't mention all of the hadith. Then someone asks the Imam, Fakila, O commander of the faithful, who is the neighbor of the mosque? The Imam says, whoever listens to the adhan, to the call of the prayer, so in that time, well, that's loud speakers. So the mu'adhan goes on the minar and he says, and he does the adhan. So whoever listens surrounding the masjid, he's the neighbor of the masjid. But if somebody is far away and he doesn't hear the adhan, then he's not part of this hadith, which means the neighbor of the masjid. But with these loud speakers, would they be the same? Again, this hadith was in that time which there were no loud speakers. So this goes back to the marja, to see if the marja, if he says the same applies or not, and that's another issue. Ahsan, thank you very much, sheikhna. And I believe we would encourage our brothers and sisters to actually attend the masjid, regardless if you can hear the adhan or not. That's all we have time for, sheikhna. So thank you very much for your involvement. And thank you very much for answering my questions today. And thank you for all the viewers at home for joining us on Iqam SOS. And insha'Allah, you now know that you'll be able to go to any mosque and that you'll be gaining more reward for your salah. And insha'Allah, remember us in your da'a. And insha'Allah, we'll be seeing you in Karbala, insha'Allah, under the dome of Aba Abd al-Hussain. Until next time, Salamu alaykum, rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Al-Fatiha.