—is even more offensive to the Muslims than garlic and all the other substances named in the ḥadīth, as every person whom Allah has spared from this calamity—one from which only a few escape—can testify, and even those who are afflicted by it admit the same, may Allah grant them deliverance. Yet Allah will not deliver them unless they follow the path He has laid down: “As for him who gives and is mindful of Allah, and affirms the best promise, We shall ease him toward ease” (Q 92:5-7). Such is the unchanging way of Allah with His servants; you will never find any alteration in Allah’s way.

It is a grave penalty that such people and those like them should be barred from entering the mosques where the believers assemble and the angels who draw near to Allah are present, thereby depriving themselves of the abundant good found there—foremost of which is that the prayer performed therein is multiplied twenty-seven times. Graver still is that, should they enter, they are to be expelled by force, exactly as the Prophet ﷺ used to do, as will be detailed shortly. Surely in this is a lesson: “So take heed, O people of insight” (Q 59:2).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ said in Fatḥ al-Bārī:

(An ancillary benefit) The courtyard of the mosque and all that adjoins it share the same ruling. For that reason, whenever the Prophet ﷺ detected its odor in the mosque, he ordered that the one from whom it issued be removed to al-Baqīʿ, as recorded by Muslim.

I say: Perhaps his choice of words—“let him not come near”—was intended to convey this meaning, unlike the wording “let him not enter.” Reflect on this. He then said:

(A note) In the ḥadīth of Ḥudhayfah reported by Ibn Khuzaymah it states: “Whoever eats from this foul plant, let him not come near our mosque for three days.” He titled that section: The time-limit for the prohibition of coming