Chapter: Mosques
Introduction
“Mosques” (masājid) is the plural of masjid. Linguistically, masjid—pronounced with a fatḥa on the mīm and a kasra on the jīm—means “the place of prostration.” Al-Ṣiqillī noted that it is also pronounced masīd (with a fatḥa on the mīm), a reading transmitted by several authorities.

In the technical, legal sense every spot on earth is a masjid. This, the Prophet ﷺ explained, is a distinction granted uniquely to this ummah: “The earth has been made for me a masjid.” [al-Bukhārī 335; Muslim 521]

Al-Qurṭubī comments: “This is a special favor Allah bestowed upon His Prophet. The prophets before him were only permitted to pray in designated places. Because prostration is the noblest act within the prayer—at that moment the servant is closest to his Lord—the name of the place was derived from that act and called masjid.”

Jurists discuss the detailed rulings concerning mosques under “The Chapter of Iʿtikāf.” Some scholars have devoted independent works to the subject, foremost among them Iʿlām al-Sājid bi-Aḥkām al-Masājid by the Shāfiʿī scholar al-Zarkashī (d. 794 AH).

In the era of Islam’s strength, mosques served as beacons of learning and havens for scholars. Study circles filled their courtyards; lectures were delivered; symposia convened; debates and disputations were heard. The mosque thus stood at the heart of Islamic life, and among its missions were:

First: it is a place for worship and the performance of the prescribed rites, and Muslims would gather there,