Non-Muslim Visitors to the Mosque
Today, as I was popping over to my parents’ house (which is situated very near our local mosque), I noticed a group of people, obviously non-Muslim taking photos one after another with the mosque in the background. It seemed that they were very interested to find a mosque in a small town in Buckinghamshire. I decided to park up my car and offer some information about the mosque and thought it would be a good idea (and good da’wah) to offer to take them inside. I asked them if they wanted to look inside and I was met with blank stares, turns out that these people were Slovak tourists who spoke very little English. I eventually made myself understood and excitedly,they, with their cameras at the ready, followed me.
It was about 10:30 am so there was a good chance that the Mosque was locked but as it happens it was open. I asked them to remove their shoes and took them into the mosque. Whilst our mosque is a nice mosque, generally well kept, it is not breathtaking in its decor but these people were genuinely excited at being inside a mosque. Our main prayer hall is quite beautiful with a high ceiling and some very elegant calligraphy adorning the walls and dome and this they found very captivating and took lots of photographs.
It was quick 5 minute visit that left a good impression on them, even though they couldn’t speak English they appreciated the fact that someone took the time out and offered them a closer look at something they wouldn’t have ordinarily visited. They even insisted that I be in a group photo with them! Our mosques should be more welcoming to visitors and we should encourage people to visit us.
wa’as-salam
Mas’ud
www.masud.co.uk
9 thoughts on “Non-Muslim Visitors to the Mosque”
As-Salaamu ‘alaikum,
Here in Kingston there’s an Egyptian cafe owner who is married to a Slovakian convert. He has been to stay with her family (in Ko?ice) and was very impressed with the people there.
Salam
ABSOLUTELY! I couldnt agree with you anymore.. and I would add that they should open doors more widely for women.
As we were driving past the Ghamkol Mosque in Brum yesterday, my friend (whose not a Muslim) said: “Are women allowed to go to mosque on Friday?”
as-salamu ‘alaykum,
Great job! We need positive incidents like this going on all over the world. Too many times I’ve seen da’wah disasters take place when non-Muslims want to go inside a mosque but some angry and rigid Muslim doesn’t want them to. Likewise, I’ve seen many da’wah opportunities like this missed since some Muslims just don’t know what to do (i.e. they’re scared that they’ll do or say something wrong), so they don’t do anything. Due to that, reading about this incident added a bright spot to my day. Maybe the seed that your kind act planted in one of the visitor’s heart today might blossom into Islamic faith in the future…Allahu ‘alim. When you get right down to it, Islam (i.e. the Truth) spreads itself, thus we don’t need to badger people and try to get them to convet on the spot. Rather, we just need to plant the seed and let Allah do the rest. Quite often, a simple act of kindness by a Muslim can help people overcome years of negative stereotyping.
Again…Great job!
as salamu `alaykum
i suppose this is one of the blessings of having the hanafi maddhab dominant in the west, because i am sure it is the maliki maddhab prohibits entry of non-muslims to any masjid; and i have often seen objection to the presence of non-muslims inside. its also time we made space for women, where possible.
Hello,
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(I would not pretend those are my words. I would say clearly that YOU wrote this, and would leave a reference on the forums http://talkaboutislam.com/forums/ to your blog in the article.)
If you do mind quoting your article, please email the webmaster at talkaboutislam.com and ask him to remove the article from the forums.
Asalaamu Aleikum all,
I wanted to share a small story that maybe might provide a different point of view on the whole question of non-Muslims in the masjid. During the month of Ramadan this year was the time of my life when I began to seriously consider converting to Islam, and alhamdulillah all my brothers and sisters in my university were more than welcoming in sharing with me about being a Muslim and Islam and everything. It took me a long time to work through the questions I had about everything (and there’s always new ones), and in January I went off to my study abroad programme in Cairo, Egypt. It was in February that I made a visit to a local mosque with one of my Muslim sisters, and although I wasn’t a muslim at that time, I was warmly welcomed into masjid (and it was during Friday prayers). The warmth and the openness of letting a non-muslim, and a girl at that, into masjid during friday prayers solidified for me one of the major reasons that I converted to Islam, was how it can make people better. I’m not sure whether that really explains what I mean, my words arent very eloquent.
But this was contrasted to my witnessing of what could have easily happened when I went to another mosque several weeks ago, and some non-muslims who were very interesting in just coming in and looking and learning about Islam were rather rudely turned away- the people there said “non-muslims not allowed into the mosque” and they went away rather disappointed and I heard their comment “geez, arent muslims trying to be promoting their religion, if so their way of doing it isnt really conducive”. Now you can look at this two ways- a) why let non-muslims into the mosque which is for muslims
or b) see it as an opportunity to introduce Islam to those who arent Muslim, and maybe they would be interested.
Those two people- if they had been there to even listen to the prayers and witness the sense of peace and community inside the masjid- like Mere Muslim said, then that seed might have been planted. If I had experienced what they had experienced that Friday, I might have been left with a seed of doubt about Islam, and taken that much longer to become a Muslim. Or it might have turned me off completely, who knows. Alhamdulillah that’s not what happened. I know its not really much of a story or anything but it was just trying to illustrate the potential positive advantages of letting non-Muslims in.
A few days ago, a brought a good friend of mine who is a non muslim to a historical area in Malaysia. We went into Hindu temples, and Buddhist temples at first. Iam a Muslim. To me it is totally not wrong for me to go into a prayer place of other religions as long as we go in with a firm niyya… and Iman. We were welcomed with open hands by the people. And my friend, she was truly touched and she stayed in the temples for a long time as she said she felt peace and welcome. After that we came to a mosque… and the sign said,” Non Muslims are not allowed into the prayer hall, please respect the holy mosque”. My friend saw the sign and she was truly dissappointed. I was dissappointed too. I feel it is unjust and not the right way to treat other humans even when they are not muslims. I was truly ashamed. My friend felt unwelcome and then we left the mosque. I really wanted her to feel the peace while in the mosque like what she felt in the temples. I feel this is unjust and it gives the impression that Islam is all about hostility and isolation. ..
Assalaamualaikum, just want to share regarding non muslims entering masjid, from Shafii mazhab
Question:
As-salamu alaykum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh, Are the Kafirun (Non-Muslims) Allowed to go to Masjid? JazakAllahKhayran
Answer:
Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,
Even in the instance that a non-Muslim is in a state of major ritual impurity, it is permissible that he enter into a mosque when a Muslim has given him permission to do so. Without the permission of a Muslim, then a non-Muslim should not enter into a mosque, it is unlawful. In the instance that the purpose of inviting a non-Muslim to a mosque (not including the Holy Mosque in Makkah) is that he hear the Qur’an and be taught about Islam, hoping that will inspire him to embrace Islam, it is recommended. (Hashiyat al-Sharwani on Tuhfat al-Muhtaj v. 2, p. 168)
And Allah knows best.
Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.
http://www.shafiifiqh.com/allowing-a-non-muslim-to-enter-a-mosque/
yes i feel very deeply that non muslims should be warmly welcomed into the mosques.islam is about love and peace but a very different face is being presented. we must let all the non muslims feel the kindness and love that islam stansds for. we very well know that Allh has so many qualities as is obvious by his names, yet the two qualities which are dearest to him and that he chose to attach with thye name allah are “Rehman” and “”Raheem”,i.e THE MOST BENEFICENT , THE MOST MERCIFUL…. doesnt it say all….? ?