Source: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, vol. 1, p. 310
Question
In a village, there is a central mosque where all the people of the village have been offering Friday and congregational prayers for a long time. Now, due to community disputes, a new mosque has been built. Is it permissible to establish Friday and congregational prayers in this new mosque or not? Kindly explain in the light of Qur’an and Sunnah.
Note: The new mosque is about 100 yards away, passing directly in front of the central mosque.
Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
If a second mosque is built without any Sharʿī need—merely out of stubbornness, community disputes, or with the intention of diminishing the central mosque’s importance—then praying in such a mosque is not permissible.
The better and safer course is to convert this mosque into a religious madrasa. This is the more cautious and correct action.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
(This is what I hold; and Allah knows best what is correct.)
