Adab al-Masjid — Etiquette of the Mosque
The houses of Allah deserve the manners Allah taught — entering, sitting, and speaking as the Sunnah prescribes.
The Mosque — A House of Allah
The masjid is not an ordinary building. Allah has honoured it, attached His name to it, and made caring for it a mark of true faith. The etiquette (adab) of the mosque therefore begins in the heart: with reverence for the place, and with the intention to worship Allah alone within it. The mosques were built for the remembrance of Allah, prayer, and the recitation of His Book — and everything that follows in this page is a branch of that single principle.
إِنَّمَا يَعْمُرُ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ
The mosques of Allah are only to be maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish prayer, give zakah, and fear none but Allah.
Quran 9:18
The parts of land dearest to Allah are its mosques, and the parts most hateful to Allah are markets.
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1423, Kitab al-MasajidSahih
Entering and Leaving — the Right Foot and the Du'a
It is from the Sunnah to give the right side precedence in acts of honour and to begin the entry into the masjid with the right foot, and the exit with the left. The Prophet ﷺ loved to begin with the right in all matters of dignity:
The Prophet ﷺ used to like to start from the right side on wearing shoes, combing his hair and cleaning or washing himself and on doing anything else.
Sahih al-Bukhari 168Sahih
On entering, the worshipper sends salah upon the Prophet ﷺ and makes the du'a of entering; on leaving, the du'a of leaving. These are established in the Sunnah from Abu Humayd and Abu Usayd al-Ansari:
اللَّهُمَّ افْتَحْ لِي أَبْوَابَ رَحْمَتِكَ
When any one of you enters the mosque, he should say: "O Allah! open for me the doors of Thy mercy"; and when he steps out he should say: 'O Allah! I beg of Thee Thy Grace.'
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1546, Kitab Salat al-MusafirinSahih
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ
O Allah! I beg of Thee Thy Grace.
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1546, Kitab Salat al-MusafirinSahih
Tahiyyat al-Masjid — Do Not Sit Until You Pray
The one who enters the masjid is commanded not to sit until he has prayed two rak'ahs, greeting the house of Allah with prayer. This is 'tahiyyat al-masjid' (the greeting of the mosque):
إِذَا دَخَلَ أَحَدُكُمُ الْمَسْجِدَ فَلَا يَجْلِسْ حَتَّى يُصَلِّيَ رَكْعَتَيْنِ
If anyone of you enters a mosque, he should pray two rak`at before sitting.
Sahih al-Bukhari 444Sahih
When any one of you enters the mosque, he should observe two rak'ahs (of Nafl prayer) before sitting.
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1548, Kitab Salat al-MusafirinSahih
The command is emphatic enough that even a man who arrived while the Prophet ﷺ was delivering the Friday khutbah was told to stand and pray two brief rak'ahs (the instruction to keep them short is in the next narration of the same report, Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1916) — showing that tahiyyat al-masjid is not dropped merely because the imam is on the pulpit.
Sulaik Ghatafani came on Friday (for prayer) while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting on the pulpit. Sulaik also sat down before observing prayer. The Apostle of Allah ﷺ said: Have you observed two rak'ahs? He said: No. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Stand and observe them.
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1915, Kitab al-Jumu'ahSahih
What the Masjid Is Not For
Because the mosque was built for the remembrance of Allah, the Sunnah firmly closes the door on turning it into a marketplace, a lost-and-found office, or a place of noise and filth. The Prophet ﷺ instructed the believers to actively rebuke the one who searches for lost property inside it:
مَنْ سَمِعَ رَجُلًا يَنْشُدُ ضَالَّةً فِي الْمَسْجِدِ فَلْيَقُلْ: لَا رَدَّهَا اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ، فَإِنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لَمْ تُبْنَ لِهَذَا
If anyone hears a man crying out in the mosque about something he has lost, he should say: May Allah not restore it to you, for the mosques were not built for this.
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1160, Kitab al-MasajidSahih
Likewise buying and selling in the masjid is rebuked. The wording extends the same principle from lost property to trade:
When you see someone selling or buying in the Masjid then say: 'May Allah not profit your business.' And when you see someone announcing about something lost then say: 'May Allah not return it to you.'
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1321Hasan gharib (at-Tirmidhi)
The masjid must also be kept pure and quiet. Fouling it — such as spitting on its floor — is a sin that must be expiated, and the worshipper is to come to the prayer with calm and dignity rather than clamour and haste:
الْبُزَاقُ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ خَطِيئَةٌ، وَكَفَّارَتُهَا دَفْنُهَا
Spitting in the mosque is a sin, and its expiation is to bury it.
Sahih al-Bukhari 415Sahih
When you hear the Iqama, proceed to offer the prayer with calmness and solemnity and do not make haste. And pray whatever you are able to pray and complete whatever you have missed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 636Sahih
Garlic, Onion, and Offensive Odours
Adab al-masjid includes not harming the angels and the worshippers with a foul smell. One who has eaten raw garlic or onion is told to stay away from the masjid until the odour is gone:
مَنْ أَكَلَ ثُومًا أَوْ بَصَلًا فَلْيَعْتَزِلْنَا — أَوْ لِيَعْتَزِلْ مَسْجِدَنَا — وَلْيَقْعُدْ فِي بَيْتِهِ
Whoever eats garlic or onion should keep away from our mosque or should remain in his house.
Sahih al-Bukhari 855Sahih
He who eats of this offensive plant must not approach our mosque, for the angels are harmed by the same things as men.
Sahih Muslim — site reader no. 1152, Kitab al-MasajidSahih
The scholars are agreed that this is a real, established ruling and not mere delicacy. They differ over its scope: is the offence tied specifically to raw garlic and onion mentioned in the text, or is it a general 'illah (cause) — a harmful odour — that extends to anything similar? The majority take it as a general cause, and so extend the ruling by analogy to cigarette smoke, unwashed body odour, and any strong stench that harms the congregation. On this basis, keeping away from the masjid until the smell is removed is the way of adab, while the fix is simply to purify oneself so one can attend and not be deprived of the congregation.
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