What is the meaning of the hadith: (The Hour will not be established until people compete in building mosques)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, it is reported in the hadith that adorning mosques is one of the signs of the Hour, is it...
The Shaykh : No,Sunan Abi Dawud 449Sahih (Al-Albani)?
The questioner : Yes, is it... placed in the mosque...?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is not good, this is not good. So look now at the state of people; is the khushu' (humility) of people in these luxurious mosques like their khushu' in the earlier mosques? I have tried both, except if the calamity was upon me, I do not know, but considering the place, there is no doubt that the first place was more khushu', more khushu' for the person. We used to come to a mosque that had nothing but a lamp, a small lamp, in the middle, you could not see the ends of the rows, you walked in the dark, but the person would find pleasure and khushu'. But now, as you see, we ask Allah to revive our hearts. So it is obligatory for us now to strive more than we did previously to bring the heart and have khushu' for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and for the person to feel that he is in the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), addressing Him, so that whenever he says a verse, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) responds to him, so that we may make up for what has passed. In the beginning, the person would find pleasure and khushu', Subhan Allah al-Azim, which is not the case in the present time. Then I heard that there, I do not say, I do not say that what I heard about it is haram, but I say that they have started to carpet the mosques with carpets that have sponge underneath, sponge, yes, now they say it is small and soft, and tomorrow it will be a bed for sleeping, yes, because when people develop, nothing stops them, so they think that this is better, and the truth is it is not better. It may be better for the body, but for the soul it is not better at all. If you do not feel that you have placed your noblest parts on something that is not considered a carpet, nor considered luxury, nor considered as they say decoration, then it is more khushu' for you. But the calamities, the calamities now, it has become, it has become now that religion is like forms only.
The student: The person...
The Shaykh : Yes, it is like forms, meaning, we used to say, in the past, some Arab countries, when we heard about the religious rituals, we feared that we would also reach this, we express it by saying, prayer is a set of ordinary things that a person does without feeling that he is in worship.
The student: Cushions
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: Cushions
The Shaykh : Cushions
The student: Yes, ...
The Shaykh : And they serve coffee and tea, or not? Where are the cushions, where are they to be?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : By Allah, I see that if a person, for example, is old or sick, and needs to bring a pillow to lean on, there is no harm in it, if Allah wills.
The student: ... the first row, they put the pillow on it,The Shaykh : A pillow?!
The student: The pillow, yes, ... sponge and they keep it
The Shaykh : By Allah, I do not see, I see that we should restrict ourselves to the necessary only. Fans are fine, air conditioning is fine, carpets like what we have or less are fine, but developing them as if they are a wedding room, this is not correct. So the barakah (blessing) has been removed, the khushu' has been removed.
The Shaykh : No,
The Last Hour will not come until people vie with one another about mosques.
لا تقوم الساعة حتى يتباهى الناس بالمساجدThe questioner : Yes, is it... placed in the mosque...?
The Shaykh : By Allah, this is not good, this is not good. So look now at the state of people; is the khushu' (humility) of people in these luxurious mosques like their khushu' in the earlier mosques? I have tried both, except if the calamity was upon me, I do not know, but considering the place, there is no doubt that the first place was more khushu', more khushu' for the person. We used to come to a mosque that had nothing but a lamp, a small lamp, in the middle, you could not see the ends of the rows, you walked in the dark, but the person would find pleasure and khushu'. But now, as you see, we ask Allah to revive our hearts. So it is obligatory for us now to strive more than we did previously to bring the heart and have khushu' for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and for the person to feel that he is in the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), addressing Him, so that whenever he says a verse, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) responds to him, so that we may make up for what has passed. In the beginning, the person would find pleasure and khushu', Subhan Allah al-Azim, which is not the case in the present time. Then I heard that there, I do not say, I do not say that what I heard about it is haram, but I say that they have started to carpet the mosques with carpets that have sponge underneath, sponge, yes, now they say it is small and soft, and tomorrow it will be a bed for sleeping, yes, because when people develop, nothing stops them, so they think that this is better, and the truth is it is not better. It may be better for the body, but for the soul it is not better at all. If you do not feel that you have placed your noblest parts on something that is not considered a carpet, nor considered luxury, nor considered as they say decoration, then it is more khushu' for you. But the calamities, the calamities now, it has become, it has become now that religion is like forms only.
The student: The person...
The Shaykh : Yes, it is like forms, meaning, we used to say, in the past, some Arab countries, when we heard about the religious rituals, we feared that we would also reach this, we express it by saying, prayer is a set of ordinary things that a person does without feeling that he is in worship.
The student: Cushions
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: Cushions
The Shaykh : Cushions
The student: Yes, ...
The Shaykh : And they serve coffee and tea, or not? Where are the cushions, where are they to be?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : By Allah, I see that if a person, for example, is old or sick, and needs to bring a pillow to lean on, there is no harm in it, if Allah wills.
The student: ... the first row, they put the pillow on it,The Shaykh : A pillow?!
The student: The pillow, yes, ... sponge and they keep it
The Shaykh : By Allah, I do not see, I see that we should restrict ourselves to the necessary only. Fans are fine, air conditioning is fine, carpets like what we have or less are fine, but developing them as if they are a wedding room, this is not correct. So the barakah (blessing) has been removed, the khushu' has been removed.