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Fatwa CenterRuling on leaving the mosque before offering the called for prayer
Question
salaam. I went to mosque to observe isha'i prayer only for me to meet the imam giving sermon. He extended this sermon beyond the stipulated time for the prayer. With annoyance, for I do not understand the language he was speaking, I walked out of the mosque and return home to say the prayer. I wish to know if the act of the imam was justified and also I leaving the mosque.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and messenger.
It was more appropriate for you to wait until you prayed with the Imaam and not go out before it, especially since you did not go out for a necessity or in order to achieve something of interest to you which you would have otherwise missed, as we understand from the question, but you went out just because you did not understand the language spoken by the Imaam. This by itself does not justify leaving the mosque before offering the prayer.
Indeed, it is indicated by the texts of the Sunnah that it is forbidden to go out of the mosque after the Athaan is called until the prayer is performed and that whoever leaves is disobedient. Abu Ash-Sha’thaa’ said: “A man went out of the mosque after the Athaan for ‘Asr was called in the mosque, so Abu Hurayrah said: “This man has disobeyed Abul-Qaasim (i.e. the Prophet ).” [Muslim and At-Tirmithi and this is the wording of At-Tirmithi]
At-Tirmithi said: "The Hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah is Hasan Saheeh ( i.e. good or sound), and the people of knowledge [scholars] among the Companions of the Prophet and those who came after them acted upon it, that none should go out of the mosque after the Athaan is called except with an excuse, for example, if his ablution is invalidated or for a necessity [i.e. a matter that one must do].” [End of quote]
It is written in Tuhfat Al-Ahwathi in the interpretation of this Hadeeth: "It was narrated by Ahmad, and then he said: The Prophet commanded us “if you are in the mosque and the Athaan for the prayer is called, then none of you should go out until he has prayed”; its chain of narrators is authentic... The Hadeeth indicates that it is not permissible to go out of the mosque after the call for the prayer was made, but this is restricted to whoever does not have a necessity [for going out].” [End of quote]
The restriction regarding going out of the mosque here varies between undesirability and prohibition. According to the Fiqh Encyclopedia: “The majority of scholars are of the view that it is disliked to go out of the mosque after the Athaan without excuse or intention to return to the mosque, unless the Athaan was for Fajr prayer and was made before the due time of Fajr had already started, in which case, it is not disliked to go out. The Hanbali scholars, however, are of the view that it (going out of the mosque after the Athaan without excuse or intention to return to it) is forbidden…” [End of quote]
Therefore, dear brother, you should be keen on not leaving the mosque after the Athaan except after you have prayed, and if there is a lecture and you do not understand the language, then you will still get the reward of attending the lecture, as there is a reward for attending circles of knowledge.
As regards your question about whether or not what the Imaam did was justified; then the answer is that it is more appropriate for the Imaam to establish the prayer when its time is due as a way of respecting the circumstances of the worshipers and he should not prolong the lecture. For more information on the importance for the Imaam not making the sermon too long or delaying the prayer to an extent that the worshipers get bored, please refer to Fatwa 250225.
Allaah Knows best.
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