Is the Prayer outside Al-Masjid Al-Harām or Al-Masjid An-Nabawi considered the same as praying inside them? Shaikh Rabee’ Ibn Hādi Al-Madkhali

Question: Is the Prayer outside Al-Masjid Al-Harām or outside Al-Masjid An-Nabawi considered the same as praying inside them?

Answer: The one who prays outside these two Masjids has not achieved the great virtue of 100,000 prayers in Al-Masjid Al-Harām or 1,000 prayers in Al-Masjid An-Nabawī. By Allah, I do not pray outside these two Mosques when I go to pray in them, because the area outside them is not a part of them.

So, you should be more ardent [in praying inside them] – and it is a must for the one who has journeyed to attain the virtue of praying in these mosques to enter them to gain this virtue [and reward] – rather, he should strive to reach the front rows.

As the Masjid of Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) has expanded to its [present] extent, then we hope that this increase is an extension of the Messenger’s Masjid and takes the ruling of an increase in size, inshā’-Allāh. Likewise, with Al-Masjid Al-Harām (Makkah) we hope from Allah its bounty, indeed He encompasses all bounty.

As for Al-Masjid An-Nabawi, some scholars hold that the reward [of 1,000] is limited to Masjid [area] that was built by Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wassallam) – that is their view. However, we do not take this view. Rather, I only clarify this affair for you so that you understand that the Prayer outside the walls of the Masjid is not a part of the Masjid itself.

Question: Will a person not be rewarded according to his intention, O Shaikh?

Answer: It is a must that there is agreement [between intention and action]. The intention alone is not sufficient – it is a must that the intention (niyyah) is accompanied by action that is in accordance with the texts of the Book and Sunnah.

(Ref: Majmooʿ Kutub was Rasā’il wa Fatāwā Fadeelah ash-Shaikh al-ʿAllāmah Rabeeʿ Ibn Hādi ʿUmayr al-Madkhali, 15/283-284 – slightly edited for clarity in reading)

NOTE: The scholars have stated, that it is allowed for the person who cannot gain entry to these Sacred Mosques due to crowding, capacity being reached, or being prevented from entering, to pray as close as possible to the Haram along with the people following the rows, who follow the Imam in Prayer. For such worshippers, it is hoped that the reward is like the reward of those who pray inside the Masjid, and Allah knows best, for if they could, they would surely pray inside the designated area of the Masjid. (Abu Khadeejah)