Hadith Lesson: On the Building of Mosques

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Build Masjids and form large crowds.” Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says there should be Jama’ah when you build a Masjid. A Masjid is the house of Allah ﷻ. Who builds it pleases Allah ﷻ.

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Build Masjids in such a way so that large crowds fill them. And build your cities in a respectable and vibrant way.” The specialty of Islam is that people don’t need to build bad houses in this world because they are Muslim. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says Masjids should be big and wide and filled with Jama’ah. And your cities should be beautiful; they should be livable, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ. The orders of Islam are good for both here and hereafter. They are for beloved people of Allah ﷻ to live well.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Build Masjids.” Build up Masjids. Certainly, there are many people who can build for themselves […]

[…] “And sweep and clean the trash that is inside. Remove it by cleaning.” Boxes, tissue papers, dust, leaves and this and that; our Holy Prophet ﷺ tells to clean them. “Accordingly, if anyone builds a Masjid, Allah ﷻ will make a house in paradise for him.” If someone helps in building a Masjid or builds a Masjid, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will make a house for him in paradise. “And taking out the trash from inside is the dowry of Houris.” The dowry of Houris is removing the trash, keeping the Masjid clean.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “May Allah ﷻ curse the Jews. They turned the graves of Prophets into Masjids.” They didn’t build Masjids. They turned graves into Masjids directly without building them.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Make your Masjids wide so that you fill them.” When you build a Masjid, no need to make it small. Make it as big as you can afford. Certainly, you will fill it.

There are people who make small Masjids thinking no one will come there. If they can, they should make it big. With the permission of Allah ﷻ it will have Jama’ah. Who is meant to go there will make a Jama’ah. We have Hajjah Anne’s mosque near Lefkosa in Cyprus. We had laid its foundation 5-6 years prior the passing away of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. There was not a single house around it. When we laid the foundation stone, people got surprised. Many people had said, “What will you do here? Why do you need it? Who will come there?” But now, with the permission of Allah ﷻ, there is Jama’ah of over a thousand people on Fridays. And there is Jama’ah on the normal five-times prayers with the permission of Allah.ﷻ

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Every building apart from Masjid will be a responsibility upon its owner on Judgment day.” They will be asked “You build it this way and that way. How did you do so?” about every structure apart from Masjid. Therefore, whoever builds a Masjid will be forgiven for the other things with the permission of Allah.ﷻ

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever builds a Masjid for Allah ﷻ, Allah ﷻ will build a house in paradise for him.”

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever builds a Masjid seeking the pleasure of Allah ﷻ, Allah ﷻ will build a house in paradise for him.” Allah ﷻ will certainly build a house in paradise for the person who builds a Masjid for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ.

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever builds a Masjid as small as a sandgrouse’ nest, Allah ﷻ will build a house in paradise for him.” It is about the sandgrouse bird. A sandgrouse is probably a small bird. Even if a person builds such a small Masjid, Allah ﷻ will certainly give him a house in paradise. As

we said, if people can make it big, they should make it big. If they cannot, even if it is small, Allah ﷻ will make a house in paradise for him.

10-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever builds a Masjid for Allah ﷻ, Allah ﷻ will build a wider house in paradise for him.” Even if he makes it small, certainly, Allah ﷻ will make it bigger in paradise than what he made.

11-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “When you adorn your Masjids with embroidery and decorate your Mushaf with gold and silver, disaster befalls you.” When you build a Masjid, it must be built for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. Those built otherwise for showing off bring disasters to people. May Allah ﷻ protect us.

When people of old times built their Masjids nicely, they did so for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. Same with everything else. But people of the present time make their Masjids for showing off. It brings punishment to them, because some people don’t build it themselves. Many people build Masjids by raising money. The current Masjid is the Masjid of Sultan. Sultans built their Masjids themselves. May Allah ﷻ be pleased with them, with Ottoman Sultans and with Sultans before them.

When Sultan was building a Masjid, there was its principles. He was building by paying from his personal treasury and wealth. And Masjids of Sultans, let me tell you now, have two minarets. It is wrong for anyone to make two minarets apart from them. It is not in the principles. It is not unacceptable but not how the principles are. They knew the principles and everything because they were together with Shaykhs of Islam. So they knew what to do better than you and me. People of the present time listen to Hadith and say, “You did this and that now. All of that is wrong. Remove and destroy it.” They were not so. Their knowledge surpasses the knowledge of these people a hundred thousand times.

We see what people do now. A man begs at the door of a mosque and says he will build a mosque. Ok, build the mosque. What is the use of putting four minarets, or two minarets? People can build ten Masjids instead of each minaret of yours. You take money from people and do it by force. And then you say that you have done it. You don’t know the principles. It must have one minaret. You are not a Sultan. Even the grand vizier didn’t build two minarets. Everything is mixed up now. This is the disaster our Holy Prophet ﷺ told about.

12-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Just like Jews raised their synagogs and just like the Christians raised their churches, I see how you will raise your Masjids after me.”

13-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “I was not ordered to raise Masjids.” Build a Masjid, either high, or low. There is no order to make it high or too tall. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ tells to make it as you like.

14-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Certainly, every nation whose deeds are spoilt start decorating and adorning their Masjids.”

15-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “It is forbidden for people to boast about their Masjids.” The biggest Masjid is Masjid al-Haram, Ka’bah. Then comes Masjid an-Nabawi, and then comes Masjid al-Aqsa. People may boast with them. The rest remain in their shadow.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

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Ihda’ – Dedication:

Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati nNaqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim, to all our passed ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. Li-Llahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them, to all our passed ones, for the souls of all Shaheeds. To Allah Almighty, Al-Fatiha.

Al Fatiha. Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 30 April 2024/ 21 Shawwal 1445 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul