What is the mission of the mosque in society? Please tell us about it, may you be rewarded.
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The questioner : What is the mission of the mosque in society? Please tell us about it, may you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : The mosque does not have a mission; the mosque is inanimate and is not sent. However, if he had asked: What are the benefits and advantages that result from the lessons in the mosques, and from the lessons and sermons after the prayers, and the like? That would have been better. As for the "mission of the mosque," I have not heard of it except recently. And what we should do is follow the wording of the righteous predecessors (Salaf) as much as we can. So I say: There is no doubt that the mosque is a place for dhikr (remembrance of Allah), recitation, and prayer. And people benefit from one another in attending the mosque through bonding, love, and knowing the conditions of their brothers in this neighborhood. For this reason, the successful one is the one who, if he misses his brother in the prayers, asks about him: Where is so-and-so? He may be sick and in need of a visit, or he may be in financial distress and hiding from the people of religion, so he needs assistance, and the like. And what the imam of the mosque or anyone else who speaks in the admonition of the people should do is not to bore them with length, meaning the length of the speech, or with repetition. For example, if he admonishes them every time a prayer ends, this bores them and they become weary of the sermons. Rather, he should seize the opportunities. If the word is merely admonition, let it be when there is an appropriate occasion. And if the word is a study of knowledge, where a book is read and then explained and its meaning clarified for the people, then this should be in one of the five prayers, and he should choose the prayer that is suitable for the people. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you. The questioner says Ibrahim.
The Shaykh : The mosque does not have a mission; the mosque is inanimate and is not sent. However, if he had asked: What are the benefits and advantages that result from the lessons in the mosques, and from the lessons and sermons after the prayers, and the like? That would have been better. As for the "mission of the mosque," I have not heard of it except recently. And what we should do is follow the wording of the righteous predecessors (Salaf) as much as we can. So I say: There is no doubt that the mosque is a place for dhikr (remembrance of Allah), recitation, and prayer. And people benefit from one another in attending the mosque through bonding, love, and knowing the conditions of their brothers in this neighborhood. For this reason, the successful one is the one who, if he misses his brother in the prayers, asks about him: Where is so-and-so? He may be sick and in need of a visit, or he may be in financial distress and hiding from the people of religion, so he needs assistance, and the like. And what the imam of the mosque or anyone else who speaks in the admonition of the people should do is not to bore them with length, meaning the length of the speech, or with repetition. For example, if he admonishes them every time a prayer ends, this bores them and they become weary of the sermons. Rather, he should seize the opportunities. If the word is merely admonition, let it be when there is an appropriate occasion. And if the word is a study of knowledge, where a book is read and then explained and its meaning clarified for the people, then this should be in one of the five prayers, and he should choose the prayer that is suitable for the people. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you. The questioner says Ibrahim.