men, subject to the qualifications we have just outlined. Al-Bukhārī headed the two reports with a similar title, saying:

“Chapter: The Sleep of Men in the Mosque.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ [Ibn Ḥajar] comments:

“That is, it is permissible, and this is the view held by the majority. It is related from Ibn ʿAbbās that he considered it disliked except for someone who intends to pray; from Ibn Masʿūd that he disapproved of it without qualification; and from Mālik a distinction: if a person has a dwelling it is disliked, whereas if he has no home it is allowed.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ further says in his commentary on hadith (b):

“This fulfils the purpose of the chapter heading, for the report of Ibn ʿUmar proves its permissibility for anyone without a residence, as do the remaining narrations of the chapter—apart from the story of ʿAlī, which suggests a general allowance. Yet one may differentiate between sleeping at night and taking a midday nap.”

Tirmidhī records:

“Some scholars have granted a concession for sleeping in the mosque. Ibn ʿAbbās said: ‘Let him not make it a place to spend the night or to take his siesta,’ and a group of scholars adopted Ibn ʿAbbās’s position.”

Al-Bayhaqī states:

“We have transmitted that Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib was asked about sleeping in the mosque, and he said: ‘Where, then, did the Ahl al-Ṣuffa stay?’—meaning that they slept there. We have also narrated from Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās, and subsequently from Mujāhid and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, reports indicating their dislike of sleeping in the mosque. It seems they preferred that anyone who has a house should not deliberately go to the mosque for that purpose.”

As for our proviso—‘provided he does not turn it into a place for spending the night or the siesta’—this is because mosques were not built for that purpose. Frequent resort to them for sleeping, especially without necessity, runs counter to the objective for which they were established, and therefore