Q: Those that advocate continuing closure of the Masajid, even for individual worship pose 3 questions:
1. Is it permissible to use the lighting in the Masjid for times other than when collective worship takes place?
2. Did Nabi Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam encourage individual at home or the Masjid?
3. Are Masjids built for collective or individual worship?
These 3 points or questions rather are being used to promote the continuing closure of the Masajid. Are these valid points? I suspect they are not, and have some proofs, but I can’t be certain if they are correct.
A:
1. To use the lighting around the time that people generally come in to do their fardh, sunnat or tasbeehaat for some time before or after the namaaz is permissible.
2. As a rule, individual ibaadat is best performed at home. But the ulama have explained that since people have considered the sunnat muakkadah as something insignificant therefore they advise that in this day and time the sunnats should be done in the musjid so that people begin to realise the importance of the sunnats.
3. Collective ibaadat.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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