its occurrence in the mosque itself, as has already been explained, and this is stated explicitly in the ḥadith of Abū Saʿīd and Abū Hurayrah mentioned at the beginning of the chapter).

Al-Nawawī, however, dissented and even went so far as to say in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:

“Be aware that spitting in the mosque is a sin in every situation, whether one is compelled to spit or not; he should spit into his garment. If he spits in the mosque he has committed a sin and must expiate that sin by burying the spittle. This is the correct view, for spitting is a sin just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ clearly stated. Some scholars—and al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ among them—have voiced a baseless opinion whose gist is that spitting is not sinful except for the one who fails to bury it, whereas whoever intends to bury it incurs no sin. They cite defective proofs for this claim; such speech is erroneous and contradicts the explicit wording of the ḥadith.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ [Ibn Ḥajar] remarked:

“The point of contention is that two general statements appear to clash: the Prophet’s words, ‘Spitting in the mosque is a sin,’ and his words, ‘Let him spit to his left or beneath his foot.’ Al-Nawawī treats the first as unrestricted and confines the second to situations outside the mosque, whereas al-Qāḍī takes the opposite view—regarding the second as unrestricted and limiting the first to the case of one who does not intend to bury the spit. A number of scholars side with al-Qāḍī, among them Ibn Makkī in al-Tanqīb, al-Qurṭubī in al-Mufhim, and others, and various narrations support them.”

He then cited the report of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, followed by the report of Abū Umāmah—commenting that the latter is clearer for the intended point—then the report of Abū Dharr together with al-Qurṭubī’s earlier remarks, and finally said: “Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr also transmitted from Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrah:”