The Role of the Mosque and the Pulpit in Calling to Allah

Shaykh Abdul Aziz! The mission of mosques and the mission of the pulpit in Islam is a topic that many of our brother listeners write about. Some of them say: People have deviated the pulpit from its mission. Others say: We have been deprived of the most precious and purest places on earth, the houses of Allah; we cannot sit in them, nor study, nor learn. Others also say: The pulpits have been used for other than calling to Allah; they call for such-and-such a day, such-and-such a party, and so on.
These issues are represented by brothers from Algeria, one of whom is (B.A.T) from Sidi Bal Abbas in Algeria, and another letter from a brother there, also from Algeria: Muhammad ibn al-Baqasim. They are asking about this issue, Your Eminence, and I believe the topic concerns all Muslims, so if you would be kind enough to address it?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon His servant and messenger, His choice from among His creation, and His trustee over His revelation; our Prophet, our Imam, and our Master Muhammad ibn Abdullah, and upon his family and his Companions, and whoever follows his path and is guided by his guidance until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
There is no doubt that the mosque and the pulpit are the two ancient tools for directing people to good, teaching people what benefits them, and conveying to people the message of their Lord, Glorified and Exalted is He. Allah sent the messengers, peace and blessings be upon them, to convey the messages of Allah to people and to teach them the Shari'ah of Allah. Thus, Allah sent the messengers, from Adam, peace and blessings be upon him, then Noah, then the messengers after them; they were all sent to convey the messages of Allah through the means of mosques and pulpits, whether the pulpits were in the mosque or outside the mosque, and whether the pulpit was built or not built. The pulpit may be a camel or a horse or other riding animals. The pulpit may be an elevated place from which the message of Allah is conveyed.
The point is that Allah, Exalted and Majestic, has prescribed for His servants to convey the messages of their Lord, and to teach people what Allah sent His messengers with, through every means. However, the pulpit and the mosque are the most important means. The mission of the mosque is a great mission. It is obligatory for all scholars and teachers of good to focus on it, to restore it to its original state, and to teach people their religion through the mosque, because it is the gathering place of Muslims for the Friday prayer and others.
It is also their duty to convey the religion of Allah to people through other means: the means of broadcasting, the means of the pulpit outside the mosque, through preaching in available gatherings and appropriate celebrations, through the press, through writing, through every possible means. Thus, it is obligatory for the followers of the messengers and the successors of the messengers from among the people of knowledge to convey the messages of Allah, and to teach people the Shari'ah of Allah, so that the old and the young, the man and the woman, the agreeable and the disagreeable, may understand the religion, until the proof is established and the excuse is cut off.
It is not permissible for the rulers or anyone else to prevent people from these pulpits, except for one who is known to be calling to falsehood, for he is to be prevented wherever he is. As for the one who calls to truth and guidance, it is obligatory to encourage him and to support him, and to facilitate for him the means by which he conveys the command of Allah and His Shari'ah, Glorified and Exalted is He.
And you, O brothers, in every place, in Algeria, in Morocco, and in all parts of the world, you must fulfill your duty according to the knowledge Allah has given you through His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. You must convey the message of Allah wherever you are: in the mosque, in the house, on the road, in the car, in the plane, in the train, and in every place.
There is no specific place for conveying the message; rather, conveying the message is required in every place, even if you are walking on the road with your brother or with your brothers, or even if you are at a table eating with your brothers. You convey the message of Allah in any society and in any place where you are able to convey it. You must convey it.
And Allah, Exalted and Majestic, says: [Al-Nahl: 35], and He says, Glorified is He: [Al-Ma'idah: 67]. And the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: And he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: .
And when he, peace and blessings be upon him, would preach to the people, he would say: And when he preached to the people at 'Arafah during the Farewell Pilgrimage, in the greatest gathering, when he finished his sermon, he said: , and he said: . Thus, he, peace and blessings be upon him, would say this, and thus he would encourage people to convey and clarify.
So you, O brothers, and O scholars, in every place... in Africa... in Europe... in America... in Asia... in the Arab countries... in non-Arab countries... in all Islamic countries and in every place, you must convey the message of Allah, and you must teach people their religion, but after verification... after insight, after knowing what Allah and His Messenger said, so that you do not convey from Allah other than the truth, and so that you do not convey from His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, other than the truth.
So you must learn and gain insight, then convey to people the knowledge Allah has given you. And the people of knowledge, whom Allah has granted understanding in the religion and insight, they must race to this good and hasten to it, and they must bear this duty with trustworthiness and sincerity, so that they convey the religion of Allah to the servants of Allah, and so that they teach people what Allah has prescribed; because not everyone is able to learn in schools, and not everyone finds a school that teaches them the pure Shari'ah, teaches them the true religion, teaches them the Qur'an as it was revealed, and the Sunnah as it came.
So you must convey to people from the pulpits of broadcasting, the pulpits of television, the pulpits of the press, the pulpits of Friday, the pulpits of the festival, and in every place, and through lessons and scholarly circles in the mosques and outside the mosques, such as schools and institutes and the like.
Every student of knowledge whom Allah has granted knowledge, and every scholar whom Allah has opened his insight, should utilize the knowledge Allah has given him, and should utilize every opportunity that enables him to call to Allah, so that he conveys the command of Allah, and so that he teaches people the Shari'ah of Allah, and so that he commands them with what is right and forbids them from what is wrong, and so that he explains to them what may be hidden from them of what Allah has made obligatory upon them and what He has forbidden. This is the duty of all people of knowledge, for they are the successors of the messengers and the heirs of the prophets. So they must convey the messages of Allah, and they must teach the servants of Allah the Shari'ah of Allah, and they must advise Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the rulers of the Muslims, and their common people.
And it is the duty of all rulers to support them and encourage them and do everything that helps in this duty. For Allah, Exalted and Majestic, says: [Al-Ma'idah: 2], and the noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: , agreed upon as authentic from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both. And he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "By Allah, Allah is in the aid of the servant as long as the servant is in the aid of his brother," narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him.
Thus, it is obligatory upon us all, and we ask Allah for us and for all our Muslim brothers, and for the scholars in particular, and for the students of knowledge, we ask Allah for everyone success and guidance, and assistance in performing the truth.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
Your Eminence! I understand from what you have graciously said, and I believe the brother listeners share this understanding with me, that the one who is prevented is the one who holds falsehood, not the mosques or the pulpits are prevented from people so that they cannot benefit from them in the field of calling to Allah.
The Shaykh: Yes, as mentioned before, only the callers to falsehood are prevented, and they are the causes who may harass the people of knowledge and the people of good, until it may lead to the point where this leads to preventing them from the mosques, so others are prevented because of them. When the people of falsehood are prevented, the path is straightened and the field is widened for the callers to truth.
So it is obligatory for the rulers to take hold of the people of falsehood and prevent them from spreading their falsehood by every means, whether the one who holds falsehood is a communist, an idolater, a Christian, or an innovator from the various types of innovations... The rulers from among the people of Islam must prevent the people of innovation and the people of falsehood from spreading their falsehood.
They must also support the callers to the truth who invite people to the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and who make clear to them what Allah has made obligatory and what He has forbidden, and who clarify for them the right of Allah, the right of His servants, the right of those in authority, and the right of every Muslim over his brother. These are the ones who are suffering, and whoever deviates from the path and calls to something other than the Shari'ah is the one who is prevented, wherever he may be.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.