Q : Assalaamu Alaykum , please I hope you can answer these questions for some of us here in Jamaica

A : وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته . Firstly , I welcome our brothers in Jamaica . I ask Allah عز وجل to grant you success , to bring you together in goodness, and to protect us all from all sorts of Fitan .

Q : Can a rented building be a Masjid ?

A : No , that is not possible, because from the conditions of Masjid is that it should be endowed ( Waqf ) for Allah عز وجل , meaning it should be in the possession of Allah عز وجل only and no one from the creations has a share in it , neither in its walls , nor its land, nor its roof , so it can't be sold or benefited from except in a way that doesn't contradict with its own condition. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah { وَأَنَّ ٱلۡمَسَـٰجِدَ لِلَّهِ فَلَا تَدۡعُوا۟ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ أَحَدࣰا } And the mosques are for Allah (Alone) .

Q : Is it necessary to conduct all the five daily prayers in it in order for it to be called a Masjid ?

A : No it is not a condition and it is the view of the majority of the scholars . And the evidence for that is that some Masajid in the villages of the Ansar in the era of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not hold Friday prayers in them because they used to gather in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah عز وجل to pray with him , and there is no evidence for making it as a condition any way .

Q : Should we give Adhaan for all the five daily prayers ?

A : As long as the Muslims gather in it and the Adhaan from those ( Masjids ) around them is not audible to them , then they must give Adhaan for themselves as much as they can according to the Hadith of Malik bin Al-Huwayrith , Anas bin Malik , Abu Saeed and others and they are in the Sahih.

Q : What if we only prayed Friday prayer in it , can it still be called a Masjid ?

A : Yes , as long as it is endowed (Waqf) for Allah عز وجل . But it is not befitting that a Masjid is abandoned in this way. Rather the Masjid should be revived with prayers and remembrance of Allah عز وجل as it came in His saying { فِی بُیُوتٍ أَذِنَ ٱللَّهُ أَن تُرۡفَعَ وَیُذۡكَرَ فِیهَا ٱسۡمُهُۥ یُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ فِیهَا بِٱلۡغُدُوِّ وَٱلۡـَٔاصَالِ } In houses (mosques), which Allah has ordered to be raised (to be cleaned, and to be honoured), in them His Name is glorified in the mornings and in the afternoons or the evenings, .

And Allah عز وجل knows best .