Shariah Ruling on having gutkha, smoking and entering the Masjid

Eating gutkha, smoking, etc. has become very common nowadays.  People have these things and enter the Masjid.  Consuming undesirable things and entering the Masjid is forbidden.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has prohibited us from entering the Masjid after eating foul-smelling things.

 

There is a Hadith in Sahih Muslim:

 

Translation of Hadith: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him): Whoever eats of this tree should not come near the Masjid at all and should not hurt us with the odor of garlic (Lahsun in Urdu). (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 209, Hadith No. 1279)

 

In another Hadith of Sahih Muslim, onion and wild onion have been mentioned.

 

Translation of Hadith: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Jabir (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has prohibited us from eating onion and wild onion.  (Sahih Muslim, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 209, Hadith No. 1280)

 

There is a Hadith in Jame’ Tirmidhi, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 3:

 

Translation of Hadith: Hadhrat Abu Ayyub (May Allah be well pleased with him) asked the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam): O Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is garlic Haraam (forbidden)?  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: No it is not Haraam, but I dislike it due to its smell.  (Jame’ Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 1920)

 

The use of garlic, onion, etc. is not undesirable (Makruh) in itself, but entering the Masjid when their smell is emanating from the mouth has been declared Makruh.  As the use of gutkha and cigarette, chewable tobacco, Zarda, etc. is Makruh because of their smell and the danger they pose to health, their use at the time of entering the Masjid is all the more undesirable.

 

As given in At Ta’aleeq Ul Mumajjad Haashiya Mawatta Imam Muhammad, Pg. No. 387:

 

Translation: The aforementioned Hadith is a proof that all those things are undesirable (Makruh), whose smell is disliked, like onion, radish, wild onion and similarly tobacco/smoking in this age.

 

It is given in Haashiya Tirmidhi, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 3:

 

Translation:  The same is the ruling for tobacco.

 

It is given in Sharh Muslim of Imam Nawawi, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 209:

 

Translation:  The scholars have said that anything of bad odor, which is eaten or drunk (consumed), is included in the rule of garlic, onion and wild onion.

 

And Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) knows best.

 

Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi Qadri,

 

[Associate Professor, Islamic Law, Jamia Nizamia,

Founder/Director, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center]