the prohibition against his reciting the Quran is more stringent than the prohibition against his being in the mosque. Scholars have differed over whether disbelievers should be prohibited from entering the mosque. Muslims are better than disbelievers, even when in a state of major ritual impurity. For it is established in the Sahīh:

“When Abū Hurayrah met the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, while in a state of major ritual impurity, he slipped away, performed a ritual bath, and then returned. The Prophet asked him, ‘Where were you?’ He replied, ‘I was in a state of major ritual impurity, and I disliked sitting with you unless I was in a state of purity.’ He said, ‘Glory be to Allah! A believer does not become impure.’”

Allah Most High has said:

“Indeed, the polytheists are impure.”

For those who permit a disbeliever to remain in the mosque, a believer in a state of major ritual impurity who has performed ablution has all the more right to remain there. Nor does prohibiting a disbeliever require prohibiting a believer who has performed ablution, in keeping with what has been reported from the Companions.

If a person in a state of major ritual impurity performs ablution before sleeping, and the angels then attend his funeral, it follows that sleep does not invalidate the purification achieved through that ablution, namely, the lessening of major ritual impurity. He may therefore sleep in the mosque where others sleep. If prolonged sleep invalidates ablution, that concerns the ablution which removes minor ritual impurity, whereas the ablution of someone in a state of major ritual impurity lessens that impurity. This ablution does not, however, permit him to do what minor ritual impurity prohibits: praying, circumambulation, and touching a copy of the Quran.