Q 368: Is one permitted to sit in, perform prayers in, or pass through places that have been usurped by a tyrannical regime?
A: Assuming certainty about usurpation, the rules and consequences of the usurped [places] will apply to it.
Q 369: What is the rule with respect to performing prayer on land that used to be an endowment in the past and the government has taken it over and built a school on it?
A: If there is a considerable probability that the said making use of the land by the government has been due to a shar‘ī justification, there will be no problem in performing prayers on it.
Q 370: A person performed prayers, for a period of time, on a prayer mat or in a dress out of which khums was to be paid. What is the state of these prayers?
A: If he was unaware of the fact that these things are subject to khums, or of the rule of making use of them, the prayers performed would be considered valid.
Q 371: Is it true that men should stand in front of women while performing prayer?
A: By obligatory caution, there should be a distance of — at least — one hand span between a man and a woman who are praying. In this case, their prayers are valid if they are in the same row or she stands in front of him.
Q 372: What is the rule with respect to hanging the photographs of Imam Khomeini (q.) and the martyrs of the Islamic Revolution in the masjids, given that Imam Khomeini (q.) expressed his desire not to have his photographs fixed in the masjids and there is also a view that considers such an act as makrūh?
A: There is no objection to doing so. But if they are in the place where people say their prayers, it is better to cover the photographs at the time of prayer.
Q 373: A person has been living in a house owned by the government and after the allotted time for his residence is over, he is given a notice to vacate it. What is the rule pertaining to his prayers and fasting after the deadline fixed for its evacuation expires?
A: If he is not allowed by the concerned authorities to reside in the house after the deadline, all kind of making use of the house will be considered as acts of usurpation.
Q 374: Is it makrūh to perform prayer on a prayer mat that has pictures on it or on clay [turbah] with engravings?
A: It is not problematic in itself but if it provides an opportunity for those who always accuse Shī‘ah, it will be obligatory to refrain from manufacturing such things and performing prayers on them. Also, if it entails absent mindedness and loss of concentration during prayer, it will be makrūh.
Q 375: The place we perform prayer is not pure but the place of prostration is. Is our prayer correct?
A: If the najāsah of the place does not transfer to one’s clothes or body and the place of prostration is pure, there will be no problem in performing prayer there.
Q 376: The present building of the office where we work used to be the site of a graveyard in the past. About forty years ago it was abandoned and thirty years ago this building was constructed. Now, all the lands around the office have been built on, and there remains no sign of the graveyard. Please clarify whether it is correct for the employees to perform prayer in such an office from the viewpoint of Islamic law?
A: The different kinds of making use of such an office and performing prayer in it are allowed without any problem unless it is proved through a shar‘ī way that the ground upon which this office has been built is an endowment for the burial of the dead and it has been used for building through illegal ways as per shar‘.
Q 377: Some faithful youths have decided to hold prayers in parks on one or two days of the week for the sake of enjoining the good. Some respected and elderly people objected to it saying that the ownership of such places is not clear. What is the ruling with regard to performing prayer in such places?
A: There is no problem in using present parks and the like for such activities as holding prayers, etc. The mere probability of usurpation is not to be taken into consideration.
Q 378: In our city, there were two adjacent masjids separated by a wall. Some time ago, some pious people removed a large part of that wall with the purpose of connecting the two masjids. This became the cause of doubt for some people with respect to performing prayers in both masjids. They still doubt. Please advise what is to be done in this case?
A: The destruction of the wall separating the two masjids does not cause any problem with performing prayers in them.
Q 379: There are some restaurants on the roads next to which there exist places for performing prayer. If one does not eat in those restaurants, will he be allowed to perform prayer in those places or does he have to seek permission from the owners of the restaurants?
A: If there is a probability that the place for performing prayer belongs to the owner of the restaurant and that the right to take advantage of it is exclusive to those who eat in that restaurant, it will be obligatory for him to ask for permission.
Q 380: Will the prayer of a person be valid if he performs it on usurped land while standing on a prayer mat or a wooden board or something similar?
A: The prayer performed on usurped land is void even if one stands on a prayer mat or something else put on the land.
Q 381: In some governmental companies and institutions, there are some people who do not attend congregational prayers held in them with the excuse that such places were taken over from their owners upon the orders of a shar‘ī court. Please state your honored opinion in this matter?
A: If there is a probability that the judge who issued the confiscation order enjoys legal competence and did so according to shar‘ and legal criteria, then his act will be considered valid, and therefore, it will be permissible to carry out every kind of my activity in that place and the rules of usurpation do not apply to it.
Q 382: If there is a masjid next to a ḥusayniyyah, will it be correct to perform congregational prayer in the ḥusayniyyah? Are the rewards of such prayers equal in both places?
A: There is no doubt that the merit of performing prayer in a masjid is more than that performed in any other place. However, there is no shar‘ī obstacle to performing congregational prayer in a ḥusayniyyah or in any other place.
Q 383: Is it correct to perform prayer in a place where forbidden music is being played?
A: If it entails listening to a ḥarām kind of music, staying there is not permissible, although performing prayer is considered valid. If the sound of music distracts one’s attention and concentration, performing prayer there will be makrūh.
Q 384: What is the rule concerning the prayer of those who are sent
on a mission in a boat when the prayer time begins in such a way that if they do not pray there, they will not be able to perform it thereafter in its specific time?
A: In the mentioned condition it is obligatory for them to perform prayer at its time in any possible way even inside the boat.