And making the mosque one’s habitual abode for the sake of remembrance and prayer is, at the very least, recommended. This is the position adopted by Ibn Ḥazm—may Allah have mercy on him—who said: “It is recommended for anyone who has no need to earn a living or engage in trade to remain constantly in the mosque.”
He limited the ruling with this proviso—and we have followed him in that—because the revealed law obliges a Muslim to seek his livelihood and not live off others, as in His statement: “When the prayer is finished, disperse through the land and seek the bounty of Allah” (Q 62:10). If, however, a person is free of that need, or has reached an advanced age that prevents him from working, or is in a similar situation, it is perfectly reasonable for him to make the House of Allah his home and to keep watch there for the remembrance of Allah and for prayer.
(B) Prohibitions
- It is unlawful to leave the mosque after the adhān and before the prayer has been performed, for a man once walked out of the mosque after the call to the afternoon prayer had been given. Abū Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) remarked, “This man has disobeyed Abū al-Qāsim ﷺ.”
This ḥadīth is narrated by Abū Hurayrah himself, and from him it comes through two routes:
The first is through Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ, who said … and so on.
It was recorded by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, al-Tirmidhī, al-Dārimī, Ibn Mājah, and Aḥmad through the chains of Ibrāhīm ibn al-Muhājir, Ashʿath ibn Abī al-Shaʿthāʾ, and al-Muḥāribī, all from Abū al-Shaʿthāʾ. Al-Tirmidhī—whose wording we cite—said: