Answered by Shaykh Sohail Hanif, SunniPath Academy Teacher
If I did a kaza/late prayer of fajr in the mosque, is that ok? if it is, to what extent (i.e. if there are many people behind you, its not right I think to pray it except at home)? what if you feel that you can pray the kaza in the mosque more easily because people are around you and that gives an encouraging environment for prayer? if that’s ok, then is it also appropriate to pray sunnah prayers in the mosque instead of home (I understand that the best prayer after the fard ones are best to be performed in ones home? and does that mean in your own room and not in front of anyone of the home e.g. family or housemates, friends visiting?) I ask much, but I have felt happy after reading answers before, since I find help after being helpless. finally, is it ok to finish praying in the mosque (e.g. finishing with sunnat) and leaving the mosque, when there is a group of people in the mosque learning something (of the deen – e.g. Tabligh Jamaat reading from a book)? I received a response for a previous question about niyat in prayer, and I felt very happy and am trying to bring myself to pray accordingly, and to leave the satanic whispers of doubt etc.
Assalamu alaykum
1. To delay a prayer is a sin. It is also a sin to let others know about one’s sins. This being the case the scholars declared it makruh tahriman to pray a qada in public. However this would be conditioned by if people are aware that what one is praying is a qada. If it appears to others as a normal sunna prayer then there does not appear to be a reason for the prayer to be disliked. In such a case one would either leave doing the adhan for the makeup prayer or do it in a way such that people are not aware that one is doing an adhan e.g. whispering it without placing ones fingers in ones ears.
2. It is superior to pray the sunna prayers at home. This is unconditional as regards to sunnas that are prayed before the fard. As for those prayed after the fard prayer, it is superior to pray them at home provided one goes straight home after the fard prayer without speaking, eating or committing any such act that indicates busying oneself from the prayer. In the case where one does expect to be busied from the prayer by leaving the mosque it is superior to pray in the mosque.
3. When people gather to remember Allah, mention ahadith or teach sacred knowledge, angels gather around them and their gathering is blessed. To sit and participate in such a gathering is certainly praiseworthy. However, if one has other important things to do then there is no such obligation to participate. It is better manners to distance oneself from their gathering before they start so that it doesn’t look like one is getting up during their lesson because one doesn’t like what they are saying.
And Allah knows best.
Sohail Hanif