Places where people come together in order to worship are called temples or places of worship. Jewish temples are called Synagogues or Hawras. Christian temples are called Churches or Bi'as or Sawme'as. Muslim temples are called Masjids or Jami's. In temples methods of worship and religious commandments and prohibitions are taught. People who are responsible for making speeches in today's temples dwell upon two things:

1. Through bright, obtrusive words; tragic stories, melodious, touching recitals, and even with musical instruments and loud-speakers, today's preachers try to move the audience to a level of enthusiasm and compassion, in order to conquer their hearts so that the people will give them selves up and be driven towards a certain purpose.
2. To teach the commandments and the prohibitions of the religion, and to get the people to obey them.

   In mosques also men of religion have been seen in every time period who speak for political and financial purposes. They are religious ignoramuses (yobaz) who have not read the books written by Islamic scholars, but have been deceived by false books written by la-Madhhabi and heretical people. They are poor people who, let alone teaching religious requirements and having them practiced, have not even learned them for themselves. Being ignorant and aberrant religious officials, who do not even know how to make an ablution or ghusl properly or how to perform namaz suitably with its conditions, they have misled Muslims and harmed Islam and people in every century. They are orators and lecturers, who, wearing long loose gowns and big turbans, impress the audience under a rootless and transient influence by reciting melodiously, pronouncing falsely adorned words, and telling exciting stories on minbars and preaching pulpits. Like speakers for political parties, dictators, fascist administrators and churches, they have deceived pious people by giving them doses of volatile enthusiasm. Our scholars have referred to them not as men of religion but as thieves of faith and iman, yobazes. Those true men of religion, who always preached from the books of Islamic scholars and whose words, manners and deeds were in conformity with those books, protected Islam against them.

 Abussuud Effendi "rahmatullahi ta'ala 'alaih' says in his fatwa: "If there is not a mosque in a village or district and if the inhabitants do not perform namaz in jamaat, the government has to force them to make a mosque. Those who neglect the jamaat must be punished. In the year 940 (Hijri) in 1533 an edict (firman) commanding this was sent to every province by the Khalifa." It is written in Majmuat-i Jadida: "If an old mosque cannot contain the entire jamaat, it is permissible for the people living in that quarter to demolish it and to build a larger one with their own money."

 It is written on the six hundred and thirteenth page of Halabi al-Kabir: "Performing namaz in a local masjid is better than performing it in larger mosques, even if the people within the jamaat are fewer than that in larger ones. It is better for someone who is late for the jamaat in his local masjid to go to another mosque in order to perform the time's prayer with the jamaat therein. If there is not an opportunity for him to join another jamaat in another mosque, it will be better for him to prefer his own local masjid and perform the prayer alone. If there is not an imam or a muazzin, one of the Muslims in the jamaat must assume this task. They should not go to another mosque. If the imam of your local masjid performs the night prayer during the time when the redness in the sky where the sun has set has disappeared, but who has not waited for the whiteness also to disappear, it will be better for you not to perform namaz with that imam in jamaat, but to perform it alone when the whiteness has disappeared as well. [Nowadays, the adhans for the night prayers are called rather early in big cities. Thus, the ijtihad of Imam-i azam is not followed. Yet, because they are called in compliance with the qawl of the Imamayn, it is better to join these jamaats.] If the imam of your local masjid is notorious for fisq, that is, if he is known to commit any one of the grave sins, [for instance, if he does not perform the adhan in conformity with the Shariat], it will be better for you to go to another mosque to perform the prayer in jamaat. For, abstaining from something that is makruh is given priority when compared with doing something that is sunnat.

 Ibni Abidin states:

 1 - It is makruh to lock the doors of a mosque. It is not makruh if there is a danger of thieves.

 2 - Sexual intercourse on a mosque is tahrimi makruh. Also it is makruh to step on the Kaba or on a mosque. It is haram for a person who is junub to mount the mosque.

 3 - It is tahrimi makruh to relieve nature on a mosque. [It is written in Targhib-us-salat that it is makruh to build a toilet under a mosque or in front of the Mihrab wall]. For the area over the mosque is a mosque all the way up to heaven. So is the area under the mosque. However, it is permissible to make a shadirwan or a bath under a mosque.

 4 - It is permissible to walk through a mosque sometimes. But it is makruh to make it your regular route. It is not makruh if there is a good excuse to do so. In your first passing each day you should perform the namaz of Tahiyyat-ul-masjid. You do not have to perform it during your subsequent passings. Hamawi, in his explanation of Ashbah, says, "It is a unanimously-reported sunnat that anybody entering a mosque should perform two rakats of Tahiyyat-ul-masjid. Sometimes the word mustahab means sunnat. If someone is reciting the Qur'an al-karim then the tahiyyat will not be performed because listening to the Qur'an al-karim is fard. It is awla (better) to omit a sunnat even for a fard-i kifaya. Reading the Qur'an al-karim melodiously and, in turn, listening to it is haram. [Hence, it is necessary to perform the sunnats of the four daily prayers of namaz with the intention of qada]. It is stated in Qadihan, "If the imam recites melodiously, it is recommendable to go to another mosque. If he is a fornicator or a usurer, [or if it is known that he commits another haram or lets his wife or daughters go out without covering themselves as prescribed by Islam], it becomes a must to go to another mosque." A person who makes it a habit to walk through a mosque without a good excuse becomes sinful. How one should step in and out of a mosque is written at the beginning of chapter 20.

 5 - It is makruh to bring najasat into a mosque. A person who has najasat on his person cannot enter a mosque. It is permissible to burn a lamp with najs oil. It is written in Fatawa-i fiqhiyya: "A person who sees najasat in a mosque has to clean it right away. It is sinful to delay the cleaning without an excuse. A person who sees najasat on another person who is performing namaz or on the place where he is making the sajda should let him know. Letting him know it or waking up a person who is about to miss namaz (because he is sleeping) is not wajib, but it is sunnat."

 6 - It is makruh to plaster a mosque with mortar or mud made with najs water. It is not makruh to plaster it with mud mixed with the dung of a cow. This is because there is darurat (necessity) in doing that (Hindiyya). Please see chapter 6.

 7 - It is makruh to relieve one's nature in a container in a mosque. The same applies for cupping. It is not makruh to break wind inadvertently.

 8 - It is haram to let mad people or small children who will bring najasat into a mosque enter the mosque. It is makruh if there is no danger of najasat.

 9 - It is tahrimi makruh to set up markets, to talk loudly, to make speeches, to quarrel, to take up arms, and to punish others in a mosque. [It is haram to say the khutbas of Friday and 'Iyd prayers or to speak as though one is making a speech].

 10 - It is makruh to enter a mosque with na'ls, i.e. shoes worn outdoors. It is much better for men to perform namaz with clean mests or na'ls than to perform it with their bare feet. [Na'ls or nalayn are shoes with leather soles and straps. It is makruh to walk around wearing nalayn with wooden soles.] By abstaining from such behavior you will have opposed to Jews.

 It is not makruh to relieve one's nature or to have sexual intercourse in a house where one room has been made a masjid or in a room containing a copy of the Qur'an. So is the case with those places where the namaz of Iyd or janaza is performed, but the jamaat in a mosque can follow the imam (who is conducting the namaz) in such a place. A menstruating woman or a person who is junub can enter such places as well as yards of mosques, madrasas and tekkes.

 11 - It is permissible to decorate the walls of a mosque, except the wall of the qibla. But it is better to spend the money for the poor. It is makruh to decorate the wall of the qibla with valuable things or with colors. Also, it is makruh if the side walls are decorated excessively.

 The book Durr-ul-Mukhtar says at the end of the section dealing with the makruhs of namaz: "The best of mosques is the Kaba al-muazzama, next comes Masjid al-Haram, and next comes Masjid an-Nabi, which is in Medina-i munawwara. Then comes Masjid al- Aqsa in Jerusalem, which is followed by the masjid of Kuba, which is near the blessed city of Medina-i munawwara. Masjid an-Nabi used to be a hundred dhra' long and a hundred dhra' wide. One dhra' is half a meter. Later it was widened in the course of time. Its present size is good, too."

 [The most valuable soil is the soil which is touching the Prophet's (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) blessed body in the Qabr-i Saadat (the Prophet's grave); it is more valuable than the Arsh or Paradise. Times, places, all things closer to him, and his children are more valuable and better than those that are far from him. Mosques and Prophets are exempt from this.]

 12 - It is haram to beg [annoyingly] in a mosque.

 13 - It is makruh to give alms to a beggar who annoys people in a mosque.

 14 - It is makruh to look for lost things in a mosque.

 15 - It is tahrimi makruh to read a poem containing a lampoon against a believer, a love affair or immorality. It produces thawab to read those poems containing preaches, advice, hikmat, blessings of Allahu ta'ala, words praising believers [i.e. ilahis, mawlids] without melodies, and it is permissible to read historical poems occasionally; yet, it is not something esteemable to busy oneself with poetry.

 It is permissible to say ilahis and mawlids in mosques sometimes [provided you will not prevent others from performing namaz]. It is not permissible to say them always or to make it a habit.

 16 - It is fard-i kifaya for those who have no excuse to listen to the Qur'an al-karim. It is sinful to begin reading the Qur'an al-karim loudly in a place where people are working, sleeping, performing namaz or if there is someone preaching. Likewise, a person who turns on a radio or a tape recorder, or a hafiz who allows his own voice to be recorded is deemed to have committed a sin for not having properly respected the Qur'an al-karim.

 17 - It is makruh to splash the water used for making an ablution in a mosque, to dirty a mosque with phlegm or mucus. However, it is permissible to make an ablution at a place specially prepared in a mosque.

 It is not permissible to make an ablution or a ghusl around the well of Zamzam. For it is within a mosque. It also is not permissible for a person who is junub to enter there.

 18- It is makruh to plant unnecessary trees in a mosque. It is permissible if they give public benefits, such as absorbing the moisture in a mosque or making shades. It is makruh to plant them for one's personal use.

 19- It is makruh to eat something or to sleep in a mosque. A musafir is exempted from this. When entering a mosque, a musafir must intend for I'tikaf and perform the namaz of tahiyyat-ul-masjid first. Thereafter he can eat and talk about worldly affairs. A person who makes i'tikaf can eat and sleep. I'tikaf is sunnat-i muakkada. It is written in Bariqa that neglecting the i'tikaf without a good excuse is like omitting the sunnats of five daily prayers.

 A person who eats strong smelling things, such as onion and garlic [or who smokes], in the mosque, must be prohibited. Butchers, fisherman, sellers of livers, oil sellers, - if their clothes are dirty or if they smell badly - those with bad smelling clothes and those who hurt the jamaat by talking must be turned out of the mosque. A person who has eaten something smelling like medicine should not go to a mosque because he has an excuse. A bad smell tortures men and angels.

 20- Making a contract for buying and selling in a mosque is makruh. But it is mustahab to establish a contract for a nikah.

 21- It is tahrimi makruh to busy with worldly conversations instead of worshipping in a mosque. As fire consumes wood, worldly conversations in a mosque removes one's blessings. After worshipping, it is permissible to talk on permissible matters softly. It is never permissible to talk about matters not approved of by the Shariat.

 22 - It is makruh to reserve a certain place for yourself in a mosque. But if you leave your coat in your place lest someone else will sit there when you go out of the mosque, you can sit there again when you come back. The case is the same in public places, in Mina, on Arafat [on ships, buses]. That is, if someone else is sitting in the place where it is your habit to sit, you cannot force him to stand up. If you reserve more seats than you need, someone else may take the extra seat. If two people ask for the extra seat, the one whom you give the seat can sit there. If before either of the two people asks for the seat one of them sits there, you cannot take it back and give it to the other person. If you swear to tell the truth and say, "I reserved this seat for him with his instructions and not for myself," you can make the person leave the seat. The same applies to cases involving places where sellers set up in a market place; a late comer cannot force an early comer to leave his place. In all these public places, if the first occupant has been causing harm to others, he can be forced to leave his place.

 If those who are performing namaz are too closely pressed together, they can make those who are not performing namaz leave their places.

 If a district mosque is too small for a large jamaat, those who do not live in that district can be made to leave the mosque.

 It is permissible [and necessary] for the people in a district to appoint a mutawalli [administrator] who will collect income for the mosque and who will take care of its maintenance and other expenditures.

 If a hafiz is reciting the Qur'an on one side of the mosque and a pious Muslim of the Ahl as-Sunnat Madhhab is preaching on another side, it is better to listen to the preacher. [If the hafiz is a sinner and is reciting the Qur'an melodiously, it is not permissible to listen to him.]

 It is permissible to scare away bats and pigeons in a mosque and to throw out their nests. Otherwise they will ruin the mosque. They are expelled so that the mosque will remain clean. It is written in Fatawa-i qari-ul-Hidaya and Jawahir-ul fatawa: "It is permissible to kill the birds that spoil a mosque if it is impossible to expel them. Animals that give trouble to people can be killed anywhere." It is not permissible to destroy birds' nests outside of a mosque.

 It is written in the fatwa of Qadihan (rahmatullahi 'alaih): "If the adhan (azan) is not said in a city or village or neighborhood, the government has to ensure that it is said even by using force." It is written in Fatawa-i Hindiyya: "The adhan is said outside the mosque, or on the minaret. It is sunnat to say it at an elevated place and not to force oneself to make one's voice loud." Hence, it can be easily understood that there is no need to say the adhan or the iqamat through a loud speaker. For the adhan is said in every neighborhood. It is bidat to perform worships with tape recorders, radios and loudspeakers. Bidats are grave sins.

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Copyright © 1996 Al Adaab: Living Islam According to the Minhaj of the True Salaf as Salihoon
Last modified: 08/29/06