the mosques of Allah from having His name remembered therein.” The Exalted also said: “In houses which Allah has allowed to be raised and wherein His name is mentioned, there are men who glorify Him morning and evening; neither commerce nor sale distracts them from the remembrance of Allah, from establishing prayer and giving zakah. They fear a Day on which hearts and eyes will be overturned.” Thus, the mosques are the most beloved spots to Allah, for they are the places where His name is remembered, where He is worshipped, where His Law is recited, and where many other worldly and religious benefits are obtained. For that reason, spending wealth on them is among the finest forms of spending, and whatever is given toward them counts as ongoing charity (sadaqah jariyah). It is better than putting one’s money into a sacrificial animal, a dinner, or the like. When a person devotes his wealth to building and maintaining mosques, that is superior, because mosques constitute a lasting, public charity from which all Muslims benefit—the worshippers, the students, the learners and teachers, those who seek shelter from heat or cold in them, and many others.
As for the marketplaces, they are the haunt of devils: there the devil lays his eggs and rears his young—Allah’s refuge is sought—and there he plants his banner and pitches his tent. In the markets of buying and selling, except for those whom Allah protects, lying, cheating, betrayal, false oaths, and similar vices are prevalent; therefore they are the most detested places in Allah’s sight.
This hadith accordingly affirms love and hatred for Allah—that Allah loves and hates. One of the principles of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaʿah is that we believe this and state that Allah, exalted is He, loves and hates, and He is characterized by attributes of perfection. He loves only what contains goodness and rectitude, and He hates only evil and filth.
It is also proper, as mentioned in the hadith of Salman, that one should not be the first to enter the marketplace nor the last to leave it, because it is the most detested place to Allah and because it involves the mingling of men and women, forbidden glances, unlawful speech, and similar matters.