- Shaykh Ṣiddīq Ḥasan, in his commentary on the Almighty’s words, “So let them not approach al-Masjid al-Haram…” (Quran 9:28), writes: “Their being kept away from the ḥaram (sacred precinct) is a consequence of their ritual impurity. The prohibition against ‘approaching’ is simply an emphatic way of preventing them from entering. The command that the idolaters not come near the ḥaram is, in reality, a directive to the Muslims not to allow them access. By al-Masjid al-Haram what is meant is the entire sacred territory.”
Difference of opinion among the scholars:
Scholars have disagreed over whether a polytheist may enter mosques other than al-Masjid al-Haram. The jurists of Madinah held that every polytheist is barred from every mosque. Al-Shāfiʿī maintained that the verse addresses all polytheists yet pertains specifically to al-Masjid al-Haram; hence they are not prevented from entering other mosques.
As for the position of Imām Aḥmad, he ruled that no unbeliever may enter the sanctuary of Mecca at all. Regarding other mosques—even those outside the sacred precinct—he may not enter them except when there is a genuine need, such as being hired to build or repair them.
Al-Zarkashī states in Iʿlām al-Sājid: “A non-Muslim may be permitted to enter a mosque and remain therein, for non-Muslims used to enter the Prophet’s mosque ﷺ.” Al-Bukhārī even entitled a chapter “The Entry of a Polytheist into the Mosque,” in which he cited the ḥadith of the Bedouin who asked about Islam, the report concerning the Jews who said that a man and a woman had committed adultery, and other narrations.