Passing the nearer mosque to pray in a farther one

A question about passing the nearer mosque to pray in a farther one, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that it is better to pray in the farther mosque with the larger congregation unless the nearer mosque's congregation would suffer from his absence, in which case the nearer one is better. ¹

The questioner asked about passing the nearer mosque to pray in a farther one. ¹

The Department answered that if the farther mosque has a larger congregation and the nearer mosque's congregation would not suffer from his absence, it is better to pray in the farther mosque. ¹ It said that if the nearer mosque's congregation would suffer from his absence, because he is its imam or people attend when he attends, then praying in the nearer mosque is better, so that congregations are held in two places in the town. ¹ It relied on a hadith reported by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i that a man's prayer with others is purer than his prayer alone, and that the larger the congregation the more beloved it is to God. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4259, dated 17 February 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.