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الفتح الربانی
Fath al-Rabbani
أبواب المساجدChapters on Mosques
بَابُ جَوَازِ اتِّخَاذِ الْبِيَعِ مَسَاجِدَChapter on the Permissibility of Using Churches as Mosques
Hadith 1379
اُردوEn
عَنْ طَلْقِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: وَفَدْنَا عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَلَمَّا وَدَّعَنَا أَمَرَنِي فَأَتَيْتُهُ بِإِدَاوَةٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَحَثَا مِنْهَا ثُمَّ مَجَّ فِيهَا ثَلَاثًا ثُمَّ أَوْكَأَهَا ثُمَّ قَالَ: ((اذْهَبْ بِهَا وَانْضَحْ مَسْجِدَ قَوْمِكَ وَأْمُرْهُمْ أَنْ يَرْفَعُوا بِرُؤُوسِهِمْ أَنْ رَفَعَهَا اللَّهُ)) قُلْتُ: إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكَ بَعِيدَةٌ وَإِنَّهَا تَيْبَسُ، قَالَ: ((فَإِذَا يَبِسَتْ فَمُدَّهَا))
Sayyiduna Taliq bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) says that we came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a delegation. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) bade us farewell, he instructed me, so I brought a water jug to him. He took a handful from it and rinsed his mouth three times, then tied it with a strap and said: Take this water and sprinkle it on the mosque of your people, and instruct the people to now raise their heads, for Allah Almighty has raised them. Sayyiduna Taliq bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The distance between us and you is very great, so this water will dry up. (Upon hearing this) the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When it begins to dry up, (add more water to it and) increase it.
Brief Explanation
Benefits: … This narration, in the context mentioned above, is weak; the narration in Sunan al-Nasa’i is authentic. Its translation is as follows:
Sayyiduna Taliq bin Ali radi Allahu anhu says: We arrived as a delegation to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, pledged allegiance to him, performed prayer with him, and informed him that there was a church in our area (since we wanted to convert it into a mosque), and for this reason, we requested the leftover water from your ablution (wudu). The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam called for water, performed ablution, rinsed his mouth, and poured the water into a small waterskin and gave it to us, saying: Now go, and when you reach your area, demolish the church, sprinkle this water there, and build a mosque. We said: Our land is very far and the heat is very intense, so the water will dry up? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: Keep adding other water to it; this will only increase its purity. So we set out from there and reached our area. Then we demolished the church, sprinkled the water there, built a mosque, and gave the call to prayer (adhan). A priest from the Tayy tribe, upon hearing the adhan, said: This is the call to truth. Then he went towards a hill and we did not see him again.
From this hadith, it is understood that a church can be converted into a mosque; the same ruling applies to all places of worship and idol-houses of non-Muslim nations. Many of the noble Companions (sahabah) also did the same: when they conquered various regions, they converted the enemy’s places of worship into mosques for the Muslims.
Sayyiduna Taliq bin Ali radi Allahu anhu says: We arrived as a delegation to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, pledged allegiance to him, performed prayer with him, and informed him that there was a church in our area (since we wanted to convert it into a mosque), and for this reason, we requested the leftover water from your ablution (wudu). The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam called for water, performed ablution, rinsed his mouth, and poured the water into a small waterskin and gave it to us, saying: Now go, and when you reach your area, demolish the church, sprinkle this water there, and build a mosque. We said: Our land is very far and the heat is very intense, so the water will dry up? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: Keep adding other water to it; this will only increase its purity. So we set out from there and reached our area. Then we demolished the church, sprinkled the water there, built a mosque, and gave the call to prayer (adhan). A priest from the Tayy tribe, upon hearing the adhan, said: This is the call to truth. Then he went towards a hill and we did not see him again.
From this hadith, it is understood that a church can be converted into a mosque; the same ruling applies to all places of worship and idol-houses of non-Muslim nations. Many of the noble Companions (sahabah) also did the same: when they conquered various regions, they converted the enemy’s places of worship into mosques for the Muslims.
