Praise be to Allah.
If it is possible to find an alternative place in which to pray, then it is not permitted to pray in churches and similar places, because these are the places of worship of the kuffaar, where they worship other than Allaah, and because of the statues and pictures that they contain. (But if it is not possible to find anywhere else, it is permissible to pray in them, out of necessity). ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “We do not enter your churches because of the statues and pictures that are in them.” Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) used to pray in churches except for those in which there were statues and pictures. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1/112)
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