and Ibn al-Murābiṭ added: “The same ruling also includes anyone suffering from halitosis or from a wound that emits an offensive odor.””

I say: What Ibn al-Murābiṭ has stated is clearly open to objection, for the odor in those cases is neither earned nor chosen by the individuals concerned. It is therefore unsound to place them alongside the first group, who willingly brought the smell upon themselves and could have avoided it had they wished. For that reason Ibn al-Munīr said in his marginal notes: “Some of our scholars have classed the leper and the like with the eater of garlic, prohibiting them from entering the mosque.” He then remarked, “That is debatable, because the eater of garlic has, of his own volition, introduced this impediment into himself, whereas the leper’s ailment is Heaven-sent.”

I say: The leper is thus excused and is not to be barred from entering. This is supported by the incident in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ detected the smell of garlic coming from al-Mughīra ibn Shuʿba and rebuked him; but when al-Mughīra explained that he had eaten it only out of hunger, the Prophet excused him, as noted earlier under Hadith seven. A fortiori, the leper and those in a similar condition are entitled to an excuse (1).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ added: “Others have likewise included anyone whose mouth reeks or who has a foul-smelling wound, and some went further, attaching to this ruling certain tradesmen such as fishmongers, persons with disfiguring ailments like leprosy, and anyone whose presence causes people annoyance.”