Permitting Disbelievers to Enter Mosques for the Purpose of Photography
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Is it permissible to allow and permit disbelievers to enter the mosques of Muslims to take photographs in them?
Answer:
Photography of what is permissible is allowed in any place, but mosques are more severe. It is not permissible for Muslims or disbelievers to take photographs in them; mosques are more severe. As for their entering them for a purpose, there is no obstacle. They entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his mosque. The Christians entered upon the Messenger in his mosque. Hammam ibn Awzal (may Allah be pleased with him) tied his camel there before he embraced Islam.
Except for al-Masjid al-Haram. Disbelievers do not enter al-Masjid al-Haram. It is not limited to the mosque of the Ka'bah, but rather the entire Haram; the entire Haram is not entered by disbelievers. Allah the Exalted and Majestic said:[At-Tawbah 9:28]. Therefore, polytheists are prevented from entering the Haram until the Day of Resurrection. They may enter the Haram, but as for the rest of the mosques, there is no obstacle to their entering them, provided they do not commit any sins or wrongs in them, such as photography. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: Is it permissible to allow and permit disbelievers to enter the mosques of Muslims to take photographs in them?
Answer:
Photography of what is permissible is allowed in any place, but mosques are more severe. It is not permissible for Muslims or disbelievers to take photographs in them; mosques are more severe. As for their entering them for a purpose, there is no obstacle. They entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his mosque. The Christians entered upon the Messenger in his mosque. Hammam ibn Awzal (may Allah be pleased with him) tied his camel there before he embraced Islam.
Except for al-Masjid al-Haram. Disbelievers do not enter al-Masjid al-Haram. It is not limited to the mosque of the Ka'bah, but rather the entire Haram; the entire Haram is not entered by disbelievers. Allah the Exalted and Majestic said:
O you who have believed, indeed the polytheists are unclean, so let them not approach al-Masjid al-Haram after this, their [final] year.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ فَلَا يَقْرَبُوا الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ بَعْدَ عَامِهِمْ هَٰذَا
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب اتخاذ متعبدات الكفار ومواضع القبور إذا نبشت مساجد — islamhouse.com (45:11)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.