Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani (rahimahullah):

Masjids are the most beloved places to Allāh, the Most High. Allāh, the Wise Legislator, has ordained specific rulings to masjid, categorised into three types: (1) obligatory and recommended acts, (2) forbidden acts, and (3) permissible acts.

These acts are as follows:

Obligatory and Recommended Acts Related to the Masjid

1. Cleaning and perfuming the masjid.

2. Installing lights in the masjid without extravagance.

3. Walking to the masjid with peace, tranquility, and without rushing.

4. If one chooses to wear shoes in the masjid, they must wipe the bottoms on the ground to clean them before entering.

5. Entering the masjid with the right foot first — this is from the Sunnah.

6. It is recommended to say when entering the masjid:

• “A’ūdhu billāhil-‘Adhīm, wa bi-wajhihil-Karīm wa Sulṭānihil-Qadīm, minash-Shayṭān al-Rajīm.” (I seek refuge in Allāh, the Most Great, and in His noble face, and in his eternal domain, from the outcast Shaytān.)

• “Bismillāh, Allāhumma ṣalli ‘alā Muḥammad wa sallim, Allāhumma iftaḥ lī abwab raḥmatik.” (In the name of Allāh. O Allāh, make good mention of Muḥammad in the highest places and grant him peace. O Allāh, open the doors of your mercy for me.)

7. To say when exiting the masjid:

• “Bismillāh, Allāhumma ṣalli ‘alā Muḥammad wa sallim, Allāhumma innī as’aluka min faḍlik.” (In the name of Allāh. O Allāh, make good mention of Muḥammad in the highest places and grant him peace. O Allāh, I ask you of your bounty.)

• And to occasionally say: “Allāhumma i’isimnī minash-Shayṭān ar-Rajīm” (O Allāh, protect me from the accursed Shaytan.)

8. It is obligatory to pray two rakahs before sitting down — this is obligatory. This prayer is known as ‘taḥiyyatul masjid’. It is not missed even if one has already sat down intentionally they must stand up and pray. It is prayed even by the one who enters the masjid on Friday during the khutbah (sermon) but he should make the prayer short.

9. Upon returning from a journey, one should go to the masjid first and pray two rakahs. The Prophet ﷺ commanded with this so one should take it seriously.

10. Exiting the masjid with the left foot first.

11. Intending to return to the masjid upon exiting so that he can be from the seven whom the Prophet ﷺ informed us that they will be shaded by Allāh on the Day of Judgement.^[1]

12. It is preferable for those who are free and do not have work or are financially secure to remain in the masjid awaiting the next prayer.

Forbidden Acts Related to the Masjid

1. Interlacing fingers while in the masjid.

2. Leaving the masjid after the Adhān before the prayer.

3. Entering the masjid after consuming garlic or similar substances with foul odours is forbidden until the odour dissipates.

4. Taking a specific prayer spot in masjid and never praying elsewhere.

5. Sitting in a circle before the Friday prayer, even for knowledge and study.

6. Reciting poetry in a boastful and flaunting manner; using it excessively to the extent that it becomes more than other [beneficial] speech. It is feared that it will lead to excessive useless or inappropriate talk and causing commotion, disrupting the sanctity of the masjid.

7. Announcing a lost item, searching for it, and asking about it with a loud voice.

8. Engaging in buying and selling

9. Administering prescribed punishments and legal retribution (ḥudūd and qiṣāṣ)

10. Spitting in the masjid, especially towards the qiblah and the right — it is forbidden

11. Urinating or performing similar acts in the masjid.

12. Taking it as a pathway

Permissible Acts Related to the Masjid

1. Passing through the masjid occasionally for a need.

2. Women attending the masjid is permissible with two conditions: first, to refrain from using perfume or wearing adorned clothing; second, to seek permission from her husband, which he must grant upon request.

3. A menstruating woman entering, particularly for a necessity.

4. Entering with unsheathed weapons.

5. Children being present in the masjid.

6. A deceased person being present in the masjid for the Janazah prayer to be prayed over them.

7. A mushrik (polytheist) being in the masjid for a need. This is the ruling for all masjids except al-Masjid al-Harām (in Makkah) for it is not permissible to allow them near it.^[2]

8. An animal being in the masjid for a need.

9. Performing wudū’ (ablution) in the masjid.

10. Gathering and sitting in circles to study the Qur’ān and gain knowledge.

11. Reciting poetry occasionally, especially in defense of Islām.

12. Erecting a tent for sick individuals and others for a need.

13. Engaging in play and demonstration with arrows and other war weapons due to what is in it from training for fighting and jihād.

14. Tying up a prisoner to a pillar.

15. Conducting legal judgements and Li‘ān (mutual cursing).^[3]

16. Lying down [for rest].

17. Men sleeping or napping (siesta) for a need, even if they are not travellers — but it should not be taken as a permanent place of sleep or napping.

18. Living in a corner of the masjid for those without homes, applicable to both men and women.

19. Hanging a bunch of dates in the masjid for the benefit of the poor and needy.

20. Begging for those in need, and giving charity to them

21. Permissible conversation occasionally but it should not be one’s main focus and practice

22. Eating and drinking occasionally.

Source: ‘al-Thamar al-Mustaṭāb fī Fiqh al-Sunnah wal-Kitāb’ of Shaykh al-Albānī (from page 584). For a more detailed discussion and evidence supporting each matter, it is advisable to refer back to the book.

Footnotes:

[1] Abu Hurayrah (radiyallahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ: “There are seven whom Allah will shade on a day when there is no shade but His. They are a just ruler, a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, one whose heart is attached to the mosques, two who love each other, meet each other, and depart from each other for the sake of Allah, a man who is tempted by a beautiful woman of high status but he rejects her, saying , ‘I fear Allah,’ and one who spends in charity and hides it such that his right hand does not know what his left hand has given, and one who remembered Allah in private and he wept.” (al-Bukhārī & Muslim)

[2] See Surah al-Tawbah (9:28).

[3] Li‘ān is cursing that occurs in front of the judge when a man accuses his wife of adultery, see Surah al-Nūr (24:6-9).

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