Entry of Polytheists and Disbelievers into Mosques: Qur’anic & Hadith Evidences on Permissibility and Prohibition
This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Muḥammad Munīr Qamar’s book Aḥkām al-Masājid.
Entry of Non-Muslims (Polytheists) into the Mosque
Some of our people become extremely upset and agitated if they see a non-Muslim in any mosque, considering it an extraordinary transgression. This reaction is, in fact, due to unfamiliarity with the ruling. In reality, the entry of a non-Muslim/polytheist—such as a Hindu, Sikh, or Christian—into a mosque causes no issue, because allowing non-Muslims into the mosque is established from the Noble Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself.
As for the idea that such people are “najis (impure),” there is no doubt; however, their impurity is legal (ḥukmī), not physical (ḥissī). Moreover, there is no distinction between People of the Book and others in this regard, because the entry of both is established.
Thus, the position of the majority of scholars is what has just been mentioned. There is, however, some variation in the statements of the imams and jurists. For example, the Ḥanafīs hold the absolute permissibility of the entry of polytheists/disbelievers into mosques. Imām Mālik, jurists of the Mālikī school, some Ahl al-Ẓāhir, and al-Muzanī among the Shāfiʿīs hold absolute prohibition.
The general Shāfiʿī view differentiates between al-Masjid al-Ḥarām (Makkah) and other mosques: no non-Muslim may enter al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, while entry into other mosques entails no harm. It is also said that there should be a distinction between People of the Book and others: entry is unobjectionable for People of the Book, while it is not permissible for non-People of the Book.
Fatḥ al-Bārī 1/560; Nayl al-Awtār 1/1/36–37
When the evidences of both permissibility and prohibition—and of those who differentiate and those who do not—are examined, the first view of the majority, i.e., permissibility, is what is established.
The fundamental cause of disagreement is the difference over whether the impurity of non-Muslims is legal (ḥukmī) or physical (ḥissī). Consequently, the opinions of the imams and jurists on the permissibility or non-permissibility of a non-Muslim entering the mosque differ.
Evidences of the Proponents of Prohibition
Imām Mālik, the Mālikī jurists, some Ahl al-Ẓāhir, and al-Muzanī among the Shāfiʿīs do not permit the entry of polytheists/non-Muslims into mosques. Their evidences include:
① Qur’ānic Evidence (Sūrah al-Tawbah 9:28)
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ فَلَا يَقْرَبُوا الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ بَعْدَ عَامِهِمْ هَٰذَا﴾
Since the polytheists used to come for Ḥajj and bring grain and other trade goods, the people of Makkah greatly benefited. When they were barred from approaching al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, Muslims naturally feared shortages and poverty. To dispel this anxiety, the latter part of the verse was revealed:
﴿وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ عَيْلَةً فَسَوْفَ يُغْنِيكُمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ إِن شَاءَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ﴾
From the words إنما المشركون نجس, it is argued that allowing a polytheist into the mosque is impermissible. And from فلا يقربوا المسجد الحرام بعد عامهم هذا, it is inferred that—even if entry to other mosques were allowed—al-Masjid al-Ḥarām remains strictly prohibited.
② Hadith Evidence: “The Muslim does not become impure”
They also cite the hadith found in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah, Musnad Aḥmad, and others, wherein Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān رضي الله عنه met the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on the road, moved aside to bathe due to janābah, then returned and explained. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
المسلم لا ينجس
Muslim with Nawawī 2/4/67; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 211; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Nasāʾī 258, 259; al-Muntaqā with Nabl 1/1/36–101, 102
A similar hadith is reported from Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, the four Sunan, Musnad Aḥmad, and others. He avoided the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم due to janābah, bathed, and then came. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
سبحان الله إن المؤمن لا ينجس
Bukhārī 285; Muslim with Nawawī 2/4/67; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 212; Ṣaḥīḥ Tirmidhī 100; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Nasāʾī 260; Ibn Mājah 534
The explicit meaning is that the believer is not impure; the implied converse is that the non-Muslim is impure. Based on this implication, Mālikīs and others prohibit the entry of disbelievers and polytheists into mosques.
③ Report on the Delegation of Thaqīf
They also adduce the narration in which, when the delegation of Thaqīf was seated by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the mosque, the Companions said:
قوم أنجاس
Nayl al-Awtār 1/1/20 (Dār al-Turāth ed.)
④ Utensils of the People of the Book
Another proof is the hadith in Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Tirmidhī, Musnad Aḥmad, etc., from Abū Thaʿlabah رضي الله عنه, who asked about living in the land of People of the Book and eating from their utensils. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
إن وجدتم غيرها فلا تأكلوا فيها وإن لم تجدوا فاغسلوها وكلوا فيها
Bukhārī 5478, 5496, 5488; Muslim with Nawawī 7/13/79; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 3252; Ṣaḥīḥ Tirmidhī 1265; Ibn Mājah 3207; Musnad Aḥmad 4/193, 195; al-Muntaqā 1/1/101
In Abū Dāwūd and Musnad Aḥmad, Abū Thaʿlabah added:
إنهم يأكلون لحم الخنزير ويشربون الخمر
Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 3252; Musnad Aḥmad 4/193, 195; al-Muntaqā, ibid.
They argue that the command to wash the utensils indicates their impurity.
Responses of Those Who Permit Entry & Their Evidences
① Najāsah of Polytheists is Legal (Ḥukmī), Not Physical (Ḥissī)
The majority who permit entry respond: the impurity of polytheists means doctrinal/legal impurity, not physical impurity. Evidence: in Sūrah al-Māʾidah (5:5), Allah mentions the permissibility of marrying chaste women from the People of the Book:
﴿وَالْمُحْصَنَاتُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ﴾
It is untenable to claim that a Muslim husband would become physically impure from the mere contact (e.g., perspiration) of such a wife, necessitating ghusl; rather, he is obligated to bathe only for the same reasons as with a Muslim wife.
Likewise, in the same verse:
﴿وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ﴾
If their women and their food are ḥalāl, how can they be intrinsically impure (najis al-ʿayn)? Hence, their impurity is legal, not physical. This same response applies to the second and third proofs of the prohibitionists.
② Delegation of Thaqīf: Clarification
Regarding the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم seating the delegation of Thaqīf in the mosque: this incident is against the prohibitionists, not for them. When the Companions said قوم أنجاس, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied:
إنما أنجاس القوم على أنفسهم
Nayl al-Awtār 1/1/37
These words explicitly negate physical impurity, affirming that their impurity is legal/doctrinal, not physical.
③ Utensils of Disbelievers: Reason for Washing
As for the instruction to wash the utensils of the People of the Book, it was not due to their bodily secretions or because they are najis al-ʿayn. Rather, it was because they cook pork and drink wine in those vessels—as explicitly mentioned:
إنا أرضنا أرض أهل الكتاب وإنهم ليأكلون لحم الخنزير ويشربون الخمر فكيف نصنع بآنيتهم وقدورهم
Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 3252; Musnad Aḥmad 4/193, 195; al-Muntaqā 1/1/101
Moreover, Abū Dāwūd, Musnad Aḥmad, and Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah record from Jābir رضي الله عنه that during expeditions they used utensils and waterskins of polytheists:
ولا يعيب ذلك عليهم
Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 3251; al-Muntaqā, ibid.
If washing were due to intrinsic impurity of the owners, there would be no need to qualify it with إن لم تجدوا غيرها; a vessel untouched by impurity and one purified from impurity are the same in ruling. The instruction was to cultivate aversion due to their doctrinal impurity, not to affirm physical impurity.
Fatḥ al-Bārī 9/521; Nayl al-Awtār 1/1/102
④ Texts Citing “Impurity” Aim at Censure, Not Physical Impurity
Citing ﴿إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ﴾, إن المسلم لا ينجس, and إن المؤمن لا ينجس to imply that disbelievers are physically impure is countered as being for instilling aversion and humiliation towards disbelief, not for establishing physical impurity. Supporting indications include:
- إنه توضأ من مزادة مشركة
Bukhārī 344; Muslim with Nawawī 3/5/190–191; al-Muntaqā with Nabl 1/1/102 - إنه توضأ من جرة نصرانية (regarding ʿUmar رضي الله عنه)
Bukhārī with Fatḥ 1/268, 299 - Consuming cheese brought by Jews and Christians
Nayl al-Awtār 1/1/37 - Accepting a Jewish woman’s invitation to food
al-Muntaqā 1/1/100 - Eating meat gifted by a Jewish woman of Khaybar
Nayl al-Awtār 7/569; Bukhārī 4249; Fatḥ al-Bārī - Marriage to women of the People of the Book is permitted
- Food of the People of the Book is permitted (as above)
- Thumāmah ibn Uthāl رضي الله عنه being tied to a pillar in the Prophet’s Mosque for three days
Bukhārī 468–469; Muslim 6/12/89–90; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 2331; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Nasāʾī 688
All these indicate that where disbelievers are termed najis, it denotes doctrinal/legal impurity and aims to deter loyalty to them—not to declare them physically impure.
No Distinction Between People of the Book and Others
From the incident of Thumāmah ibn Uthāl رضي الله عنه, it is also clear that there is no distinction between People of the Book and others in this issue; both are alike. Thumāmah (at that time) was a general non-Muslim polytheist.
Fatḥ al-Bārī 10/560
Imām al-Bukhārī dedicated a chapter:
باب دخول المشرك المسجد
and cited the hadith of Thumāmah ibn Uthāl رضي الله عنه under it, indicating his inclination that a non-Muslim—whether from the People of the Book or not—may enter the mosque. Imām al-Nawawī transmitted from the majority of earlier and later scholars that the disbeliever is not intrinsically impure (najis al-ʿayn), and the same is the view of al-ʿIzz ibn ʿAbd al-Salām (Bāʾiʿ al-Mulūk).
Nayl al-Awtār 1/1/38, 101
Al-Maqbilī, in al-Manār, described deriving physical impurity of disbelievers from ﴿إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ﴾ as a misconception, explaining that it imposes a novel technical sense upon the words of Allah and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. Imām al-Shawkānī disputed his reasoning in part, though not the core ruling, in which he sides with the majority affirming that disbelievers are not physically impure.
Reference as above
Imām al-Khaṭṭābī, in Maʿālim al-Sunan, chose the permissibility of a polytheist entering the mosque when needed—for example, if his debtor is in the mosque and refuses to come out, or when lodging a case with a qāḍī sitting in the mosque, or for similar matters.
Maʿālim al-Sunan 1/1/125 (Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, Beirut)
He mentioned this while commenting on the Abū Dāwūd hadith (also in Bukhārī and Muslim) wherein a non-Muslim man entered the Prophet’s Mosque mounted on his camel, made it kneel, and asked, “Which of you is Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم?” while the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was reclining among the Companions. They said:
هذا الابيض المتكي
Abū Dāwūd with Maʿālim al-Sunan 1/1/125; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 1/96
A similar narration with a ḥasan chain is also in Abū Dāwūd from Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما.
Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 1/96–97; Abū Dāwūd with ʿAwn 2/153
Another narration in the same chapter mentions Jews coming into the mosque while the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was present; however, that chain is weak.
Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd, p. 45 (al-Maktab al-Islāmī, Beirut)
Nevertheless, since the ruling itself is established by other narrations, there is no need for this report—its weakness is mentioned merely for clarification.
Non-Muslims Working in Mosque Construction
As for disbelievers/polytheists—Jews, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs—participating in mosque construction or working on it, the ruling aligns with the above: if entry into a completed mosque is permissible, then how would it be prohibited in a mosque under construction?
However, those responsible should exercise great prudence and caution, preferring contractors who are Muslim, with Muslim laborers, and especially ensuring that engineers and supervisors are Muslims. This is because at times malice has been shown—for example, in a major grand mosque in a city of the UAE, supervised by a bigoted non-Muslim, certain domes were designed and painted so that, with the sun shining, a Christian cross appears from various angles. To avoid such malevolent scheming, such individuals should be kept away from mosque construction.
