Etiquettes of the Masjid – Swindon Jamia Masjid UK 12 09 2025

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. foram. My dear respected brothers, elders, dear sisters, dear listeners, first and foremost, we begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Acknowledging the bounties of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon us and showing our great gratefulness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sending salutations upon Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam who became the means of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy to turning towards this world and seeking Allah's protection and refuge and forgiveness for all the evil that has occurred acknowledging that it has occurred from the shaitan or from within our own naps. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran he mentions the honor the sanctity the status of the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the masid in the hadith sallallahu alaihi wasallam he mentions with regards to the massid the mosques the masids this masid and all the other massagid the houses of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and he mentions that ahabul in one narration in another narration etc with the same sort of meaning that the most beloved of places to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are the massagid and the most despised places to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala are the marketplaces telling us and informing us that the masid is special place And in fact it is the most beloved place to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Our mutab one of my teachers he would often mention this in English and he would say that the entire world and every single place in the world is geared towards evil. We live in such times where where every place other than the massid there will be some sort of element which is pulling you or calling you towards evil. So everything is geared towards evil. It is facilitated towards evil and alhamdulillah the majority of the massagid are places where we are free from that and inshallah within the massid you will find things which push you and motivate you towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and towards goodness. So the masid is very very special place on the face of this earth. This is why in one narration Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the day of judgment he will give shade under his throne to seven types of people. And one of the special categories of people one of the special types of people are those people those people that were attached to the masid, those people that had connection. So this place is so beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is so important. It has such status that just being connected to the masid will make person eligible inshallah to be under the throne and the shade of the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on that day where every single creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be worried the sun will be very very close it will be extremely hot and shade would be something that every single person wants as the first and foremost thing. So the people on that day that will get shade under the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala one group of those people are the people that are attached to the massid. All these things they are telling us that the masid isn't just building where you just go and perform your salah and come back. But the masid in itself has very special status in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as per the Quranic verses and the hadith of sallallahu alaihi wasallam. reminder for myself and everyone else that the masid being the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being the most beloved place of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala special place in our religion our dean and something that holds value and status it comes with etiquets and adab it's not any place it's not just any house it's not just any building it's not just community center. It is masid, the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Therefore, there is protocols that we have to take. There are etiquets that we have to bear in mind. There are dab that we have to keep in mind and we have to follow these things. There are certain things which you can't do in the masid. You can do outside. They are completely halal whatever. But in the masjid, they are not allowed. There are certain things you should observe while in the masid just because you are in the masid. We come here to pray salah to the in the masid and unfortunately in society today most of us including myself we are weak in lot of adab and etiquates we don't even know or we know but we are weak in our actions with regards to how we should come to the masid what our mindset should be how what status or what state should be in if we look into the life of sallallahu alaihi wasallam the sahaba and the teachings of nab sallallahu alaihi wasallam You know beloved sunnah of Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam that when he would leave his house to come to the masjid on the way he would pray dua he would recite dua constantly on the way to the masjid. Many of us may not even know that he prayed dua. Some of us may know that he prayed dua. We may not not we may not know what the dua is or we have not memorized it. This small example. So the action of nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam the sunnah of nab sallallahu alaihi wasallam how he would come to the masid how he would prepare when we come to pray prepare when we come to pray our salah five times day to the masjid and we come for jy etc we don't just turn up the preparation should begin long before the preparation should begin long before so that when you are in the masid you are at that mentality or at that position or close to that position where you can worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If we expect us leaving our workplaces rushing to the masid and praying two raas for whatever the salah is and we accept we we think that that is the way the salah should be performed. It will not happen without the prerequisites without the proper following of the sunnah. we will not get the true benefits and we will not really taste and understand that we are standing in front of Allah subhana wa ta'ala the he mentioned that one of the hikmas one of the wisdoms why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam taught us to pray sunnah before some of the salah is that we can be prepared because the main point of the salah is the prayer behind the im the reason we prepare with the reason we come into the masjid and pray for sunnah for example before or few sun before the the Jumah or the other salas is so that person's mind can offload whatever he left behind outside. Another thing they mention is that when we pray salah we start like this Allahbar the first that we do and we raise our hands like this. This is symbol. This is an action that whatever is in the duny we have left behind and we have put behind our backs is completely off our minds. And this is what should happen off our minds. We are dedicating and devoting the next few minutes to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his worship. So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam when he would leave his house he would actually start reciting dua all the way to the masid and that dua is dua he mentioned and he wants every single verse or every single part every single sentence has the the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would recite this dua when he would leave to go towards the masid until he got to the masid in preparation for what he will do in the masid which will be to pray the salah he's already making dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah Put within my heart put within my tongue put within my eyes put within my ears and my listening from my right from my left from my top from beneath and Allah give me give me light give me guidance because when you come to the masid you are coming to acquire something from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you are coming to acquire some sort of guidance you are coming to acquire some sort of must mid is place where is distributed where the focus of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is upon it's place of anoir and so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would prepare long before he would even get to the masid from the time he would leave his household one of the other and is that when we are coming to the masid many of us may not know it's something we just learn and we try and implement an to wherever possible inconvenience yourself. Do voodoo at home and then come to the masid. Don't come to the masjid and do wudoo that while you're walking in to the masjid you're not in the state of woodoo. Your preparation begins there. You do woodoo at home. This is the preferred way. Yes, we have just in case someone has broken their wood or someone wasn't able to do, we have the wood here. But it but actually the main preferred method and the actual method that we should do is we perform wudoo at home and then we walk to the masid. If you live close enough, walk to the masid because for every step you take, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam has informed us for every step you take towards the masid, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives your sin, Allah gives you reward and he elevates your rank in Jenna inshallah. So wherever possible you walk towards the masid. But while you're walking towards the masid, you're already in that mode that I'm going to pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. adopt the sunnah dua of sallallahu alaihi wasallam so that you are prepared or you have you have begun your preparation from from home so that when you come to the masid your mental state is towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if we are coming to the masid last minute we haven't made these preparations we run straight from work straight to the masid I'm not saying it's something obviously you try and do it where you can but if we do this then most likely while am praying my salah My mind will still be at work. My mind will still be attached to the last thing just left. Mentally, human beings, we can't just switch off straight away. It takes few moments. It takes few minutes. It takes small amount of time for us to completely focus on something. So when you come into the masid to pray in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, begin your preparations before either by doing at home, walk into the masid if you can, reciting the dua, and when you enter the masid, there's dua. think there was little sticker with dua on it. These small small duas often overlooked. If you knew the meanings for these and you read them with meaning, you'll understand the essence. It'll improve your essence. Try and learn at least if you don't know Arabic, try and learn whatever you recite. Whether they be duas, try and learn them. Whatever you recite in the in salah, try and learn the meaning for that. And then to go step ahead, when you learn how to read the Quran, try and learn the meaning of the Quran. So when you come to the masjid, think, Allah, open the doors of mercy for me. I'm coming to the masid. Open the doors of your mercy for me. Allah, so you come here trying to acquire the rah and the of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." Some narrations they mention you send salutations upon then you recite the dua coming to the masid. This is all preparation. If we do these things with devotion so we pray we we recite we perform our wudoo at home. We make our way to the masjid. We recite the dua of sallallahu alaihi wasallam on the way to the masid. We bring it within our minds that every step that am taking, Allah is forgiving sin, Allah is giving me reward and Allah is elevating my rank in Jenna. And then any other dua you recite, you mentally prepare for your salah. When you come into the masjid, you recite the dua there. And then if there's any sunn before the salah, you pray your sunnah nicely with contentment, not rushing. Or if you come the salah has started, then you join the salah directly. Then inshallah in this way you have you are already prepared and you come to the masjid when you're praying in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala your mental state will be in much better position and you will realize that you are standing in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then you can acquire the rahma that you have come for you can acquire that that you have come for the other things from the adab and the etiquets you don't rush to the masid because when you're in rush you can't focus just you're out of breath. Your mind is everywhere. Your heart is everywhere. You're just trying to get to the masid. There's likelihood of having an accident on the way here. There's likelihood of you having road rage. You know, some people, but there you increase the likelihood of the opposite things happening. You're meant to be calm and collected and focused. Come to the masid. Try and leave early. If you're late, don't rush. Get to the masid. In fact, there was incident at the time of Nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam. sahhabi by the name of Abu Bakr, not Abu Bakr, there's another sahabi called Abu Bakr. One day he came to the masid and as he entered into the masid he saw that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had gone into from the entrance of the masid obviously the ss were bit further forward. He stands inside he says Allah abbar he joined the salah there without joining the and then he goes into so that he's got the ru of sallallahu alaihi wasallam he didn't want to miss then he starts walking to the south the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he heard this while in salah so after salah he questioned he said who was this what was that commotion what was that noise Abu Bakr he stands up and he says yahoolah this was the case this was the scenario came didn't want to miss the salah didn't want to miss the so joined Then came forward. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he said that may Allah increase you in your in your and your your desire to acquire goodness but do not do this again because we mentioned all these etiquets and adab that this goes against the etiquets because you are rushing you are you know he joined the salah there that's not that that's not what you should do. You're meant to come to the stand in the line and then join the salah. So he basically rushed to try and get that thing. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he told him don't do this. So when we're coming to the masid we don't rush. If we think we're going to miss the no problem you can make up the afterwards. In fact, the fukah they mentioned that if person leaves his home and he's coming to the masid and in his mind this is ruling of the the fukah in his mind he thinks that he will get to the masid and he will acquire some of the salah with the imam the jama meaning he knows that okay I'm going to get there at this time and I'll make it for the jama no problem but while he is coming something happens or generally he's he makes his way to the masid and he turns up and the salah has finished and he missed his salah and jama totally as long as he was sure not sure but he wasn't sure that he was going to miss his salah and he had this doubt in or this possibility in his mind that he was going to gain the jama then Allah will still reward him for that missed jama when he prays individually so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he knows there's no need for us to rush quality over quantity is general saying don't compromise on the quality of your salah because of other Don't rush from work straight to the masid. Don't rush just because you think you're going to miss If you miss penalize yourself next time say, "Okay, this time today left at this time couldn't make it. Next day I'm going to leave few minutes earlier." In that way, you can inshallah adjust your routine and then coming into the masid. How should you come into the masid? Who are you standing in front of? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he taught us that when person he eats raw onions or garlic anything which has strong stench and smell the person should do ki he should gargle his mouth clean his mouth brush his teeth and then come to the masid because the smell from those things they put the angels off and we can apply this to everything else. Many people they have bad habit of smoking and we know smoking when someone smokes if they don't clean their and gole their mouth etc that smell is very very strong and non-smoker especially he will despise that smell. So when we come into the masid, we should be careful not to have any sort of smell, wash up, goggle your mouth, do wudoo properly. If you're wearing clothes, you know, you've been sweating all day. You're wearing clothes. Change your clothes if you can. Now, at the time of the Sahabah, it was different case. They didn't have many clothes. Some of the Sahaba were very poor. They only had one pair of clothes, two pairs of clothes. But today, alhamdulillah, especially in this country, we have plenty of everything. We have no excuse. So no one should come into the masid smelling or putting people off. If you have dirty clothes, change your clothes and come to the masid. And then when you're coming for salah, the sunnah of sallallahu alaihi wasallam is that you have shower and you ba bathe yourself before you come to the masjid. You wear the best clothes that you have or clean pair of clothes that you have. You wear them fresh for the Jumah and you come to the and you try and apply this maybe on lower level but every time you come to the masid come presentable to the masid. Some people in the fud salah especially when the fud salah is very early in summer you will see they turn up in their pajamas maybe the lower garment they wear in the pajamas they just put the top garment on they come and pray the salah is still counting but it's not representable way you wouldn't go that like that to meeting official meeting you wouldn't turn up to your work meeting in those clothes so here you are meeting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so prepare yourself in every aspect and what better way than the sunnah of nabi sallallahu alaihi wasallam that we mentioned. Keep these things in mind inshallah. And there's other etiquets within the masjid with regards to mentioned this few times but people think still don't understand the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam there's two narrations that vaguely remember one narration the prophet mentioned that if someone plays with pebbles okay at the time of the sahaba there wasn't carpets and there was you know just the flooring and sometimes there would be pebbles and small rocks and stones. If someone plays or just flicks around small pebble during the then he has done something futile and it's as if he has spoken in salah. So while the is going on we should not be doing anything. In another place he mentions that if person tells another person to be quiet even that person has done wrong. So inbah the emphasis on not doing anything and being so attentive is that if you see the next person next to you talking and you're doing good thing by telling him brother don't talk even that person that's telling him don't talk he's done something wrong according to the teaching and the sun of sallallahu alaihi wasallam this is what he mentions so you can imagine you can't even stop someone the mentioned you don't even reply to the salam of another person at that time the first person shouldn't do salam but you Don't reply just the way in salah you don't reply to someone salam because you're praying salah in the same way when the is taking place very very important we have brothers moving around telling people to sit there the other brother doing this doing that so many things this should not happen when the has started this is completely against the sunnah of sallallahu alaihi wasallam we have to keep these things in mind there are many etiquas and there's many more to mention but we have to remind ourselves and lot of them are common sense you are coming here to to pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You are coming here to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Another thing often it happens salah finishes brothers they stand there they start talking about their business. It happens to me sometimes someone's asking me and don't like it. This is you know against the et if you need to speak to someone about anything other than dean within the masid you go either next door you go outside. You wait until you go outside or you wait until you go next door. You don't stay in the masid hall and talk about worldly things. It's absolute no. So keep these things in mind inshallah the etus of the masjid. Come prepared for the salah. Recite the duas that you know. Learn the meanings of the duas and mentally prepare yourself. Come on. Don't come last minute rush because you're not going to get the true benefit of salah. And when the is taking place, you're not allowed to do anything at all. person is not allowed to do anything at all. So please keep these things in mind. Inshallah the etus of the midav and make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He enables us to come and pray in the proper sunnah method and to come prepared so that we can take we can acquire the of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we wish to acquire. Watch some of