Discussion of the ideas of those who want to build mosques as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) built his mosque

The questioner : O Shaykh, allow me: they say this only regarding the construction of the mosque, but regarding a library attached to the mosque, they said: there is no objection to building it with cement and iron, only the mosque itself should be simple!

The Shaykh : What is it that has no objection?

The questioner : There is no objection to building the library!

The Shaykh : The library?

The questioner : The library attached to the mosque, the restrooms and bathrooms for the mosque, and these facilities, they say: there is no objection to building them with iron and cement, only the mosque itself should be simple, following the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the action of Abu Bakr and 'Umar.

The Shaykh : My brother, we do not differ. What does the action of Abu Bakr and 'Umar indicate?
The student : It indicates the preferred option.

The Shaykh : It indicates obligation?

The questioner : It indicates the preferred option, and they say: this is the preferred option and we want to revive this Sunnah.

The Shaykh : Okay, do those who say: it is the preferred option, do they adhere to everything that is the preferred option?

The questioner : By Allah, they are adhering, by Allah, to the best, and Allah knows best.

The Shaykh : Allah knows best, impossible.

The questioner : Then, O Shaykh!

The Shaykh : Allah knows best, impossible.

The questioner : They said: ask Shaykh Nasser andThe Shaykh : Maqbul, and ask the Shaykhs about this issue, and now they have not spent [money], they said ask the scholars, because there are people who want to donate to the mosque, so they were of this opinion and said ask the Shaykhs and people of knowledge, so what does it mean they answer in this, this is their request, O Shaykh, were they seeking a fatwa?

The Shaykh : The answer has already been given, and I have nothing other than what you heard, but I am now being explicit and I say: is their saying this in every country or in the land of palm trees?

The questioner : By Allah, in their country they want to do this action, I did not ask them this question, Allah knows best.

The Shaykh : O Shaykh, you must ask them so that you know the narrowness of their stagnation and the scope of their thinking, it is very limited, these people do not look beyond the tip of their nose, these people restrict the Shari'ah of Allah to the land they are in. If we want to build a mosque here, do we send to them to send us palm trunks?! What is this talk?! If they have this matter available and do not need to endure the heat and cold in winter, to such roofs as we use today, then let them do as they wish, we are with them in not bringing decorations into mosques, and we deny all these buildings that are built today in the style of mosques. And we deny the method of expansion in the two mosques in the Makkah Haram and the Madinah Haram, all of this is unlegislated decoration, and I like here the word of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) which the Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih as a hanging hadith, he said to the one who ordered him to increase the Prophet's Mosque: "Shelter the people from the heat and the cold": and this is what I take as an argument against your group, "Shelter the people from the heat and the cold, and do not make it red and do not make it yellow", did you see? He combined removing harm and bringing benefit, "Shelter the people from the heat and the cold, and do not make it red and do not make it yellow". In some countries, like some Arab countries where heat predominates, they are accustomed to such mosques where wind and air pass through, because if it is in concrete it becomes a hell in it because this concrete traps the heat, etc. So my intention is to say: that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab when he added the increase pointed to the rule in building mosques: "Shelter the people from the heat and the cold, and do not make it red and do not make it yellow": making it red and yellow is adornment, and this is prohibited in some hadiths that we mentioned, but protecting the people from the heat and the cold, this is a means for them to be able first: to preserve their health, and this is included in such as his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Then the Messenger, O people, is not like us today, so he is occupied with conveying the call, does he have time to build a mosque slowly and with planning and study, etc.?! No, he now wants to gather the people in this mosque by the nearest way that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) makes easy for him, but if it had been made easy for him as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said, and he is the Faruq as we mentioned, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would not fall short in that, because it came in truth as we Muslims take pride over the people of other religions: that among the virtues of Islam is that it came to achieve the benefit of the material and the spiritual at the same time, this adherence in this stagnation does not achieve only the material side, as for the spiritual side which 'Umar ibn al-Khattab pointed to: "Shelter the people from the heat and the cold, and do not make it red and do not make it yellow", without doubt these people are one of two: either they did not stand upon the report of 'Umar, or they stood upon it and they were arrogant, and from here comes the fitnah and the arrogance, that they like what they see themselves, and they do not like what the Salaf said or what the Salaf did, this is 'Umar saying this word, and that is 'Uthman building the mosque in the way that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made easy for him, and yet they return to building the mosque in the way of the Messenger. The way of the Messenger does not have what suggests that it is a worship intended for its own sake, rather this is what was available to him.

The questioner : A customary Sunnah and not a Sunnah of worship?

The Shaykh : Yes, a customary Sunnah, this is it, only this was available to him.

The questioner : The brother says that the Companions offered him money and the Messenger refused?

The Shaykh : No, this is filler, it is not in a hadith: that they offered him something of this, but they offered him to raise the roof a little, so he said to them: .