The Book of the Masjids
كتاب المساجد
Chapter 1: The Virtue Of Building Masjids
"Whoever builds a Masjid in which Allah is remembered, Allah, (the Mighty and Sublime) will build for him a house in Paradise."
Chapter 2: Bragging In Building Masjids
"One of the portents of the Hour will be that people will show off in building Masjids."
Chapter 3: Which Masjid Was Built First?
"I used to recite Qur'an to my father on the road, and if I recited a verse in which prostration was required, he would prostrate. I said: 'O my father, do you prostrate on the street?' He said: 'I heard Abu Dharr say: "I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): 'Which Masjid was built first?' He said: 'Al-Masjid Al-Haram.' [1] I said: 'Then which?' He said: 'Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa.' [2] I said: 'How long was there between them?' He said: 'Forty years. And the earth is a Masjid (or a place of prostration) for you, so wherever you are when the time for prayer comes, pray.'"[1] In Makkah.[2] "Furthest Masjid", meaning the Masjid in Jerulsalem.
Chapter 4: The Virtue Of Praying In Al-Masjid Al-Haram
"Whoever prays in the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) (that is good), for I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ' One prayer offered there is better than a thousand prayers offered elsewhere, except the Masjid of the Ka'bah.'"
Chapter 5: The Prayer in The Ka'bah
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered the House (the Ka'bah), with Usamah bin Zaid, Bilal and 'Uthman bin Talhah, and they locked the door behind them. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) opened it, I was the first one to enter. I met Bilal and asked him: 'Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) pray inside?' He said: 'Yes, he prayed between the two Yemeni columns.'"
Chapter 6: The Virtue Of Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa And Praying Therein
"When Sulaiman bin Dawud finished building Bait Al-Maqdis, he asked Allah for three things: Judgement that was in harmony with His judgement, and he was given that. And he asked Allah for a dominion that no one after him would have, and he was given that. And when he finished building the Masjid he asked Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, that no one should come to it, intending only to pray there, but he would emerge free of sin as the day his mother bore him."
Chapter 7: The Virtue Of The Prophet's Masjid And Praying Therein
"One prayer in the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is better than one thousand prayers offered in other mosques, except Al-Masjid Al-Haram, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was the last of the prophets and his Masjid was the last of the Masjids." Abu Salamah and Abu 'Abdullah said: "We do not doubt that Abu Hurairah was speaking on the basis of the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), but we could not verify that Hadith with Abu Hurairah before he died. Then we remembered that and we blamed one another for not having spoken to Abu Hurairah about that, so that he could attribute it to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) if he had indeed heard it from him. While we were arguing, we went and sat down with 'Abdullah bin Ibrahim bin Qariz, and we told him about the Hadith and how we had been negligent in not checking it with Abu Hurairah. 'Abdullah bin Ibrahim said to us: 'I bear witness that I heard Abu Hurairah say: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I am the last of the prophets and it is the last of the Masjids.'"
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'The area between my house and my Minbar is one of the gardens of Paradise.'"
"The columns of this Minbar of mine will be in Paradise."
Chapter 8: The Masjid Which Was Founded On Piety
"Two men argued about the Masjid which was founded on piety from the first day. [1] One man said that it was the Masjid of Quba', and the other said that it was the Masjid of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'It is this Masjid of mine.'"[1] At-Tawbah 9:108.
Chapter 9: The Virtue Of The Majid Of Quba' [1] And Praying Therein
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to come to Quba' riding and walking."[1] Quba' is about three miles to the south of the Prophet's Masjid. This area is named afterin that district.
"My father said: 'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'Whoever goes out to his Masjid - the Masjid of Quba' and prays therein, that will be equivalent to 'Umrah.'"
Chapter 10: To Which Masjids Should One Travel?
"Mounts are not saddled for except to (travel to) three Masjids: Al-Masjid Al-Haram, this Masjid of mine, and Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa."
Chapter 11: Taking Churches As Masjids
"We went out as a delegation to the Prophet (ﷺ); we gave him our oath of allegiance and prayed with him. We told him that in our land there was a church that belonged to us. We asked him to give us the leftovers of his purification (Wudu' water). So he called for water, performed Wudu' and rinsed out his mouth, then he poured it into a vessel and said to us: 'Leave, and when you return to your land, demolish your church, and sprinkle this water on that place, and take it as a Masjid.' We said: 'Our land is far away and it is very hot; the water is far away and it is very hot; the water will dry up.' He said: 'Add more water to it, for that will only make it better.' So we left and when we came to our land we demolished our church, then we sprinkled the water on that place and took it as a Masjid, and we called the Adhan in it. The monk was a man from Tayy', and when he heard the Adhan, he said: 'It is a true call.' Then he headed toward one of the hills and we never saw him again."
Chapter 12: Digging Up Graves And Using The Land As A Masjid
"When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to Al-Madinah, he alighted in the upper part of Al-Madinah among the tribe called Banu 'Amr bin 'Awf and he stayed with them for fourteen nights. Then he sent for the chiefs of Banu An-Najjar, and they came with their swords by their sides. It is as if I can see the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on his she-camel with Abu Bakr riding behind him (on the same camel) and the chiefs of Banu An-Najjar around him, until he dismounted in the courtyard of Abu Ayyub. The Prophet (ﷺ) used to offer the prayer wherever he was when the time for prayer came, and he would pray even in sheepfolds. Then he ordered that the Masjid be built. He sent for the chiefs of Banu An-Najjar, and when they came, he said: 'O Banu An-Najjar, name me a price for this grove of yours.' They said: 'By Allah, we will not ask for its price except from Allah.'" Anas said: "In (that grove) there were graves of idolators, ruins and date-palm trees. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ordered that the graves of the idolators be dug up, the ruins be leveled and the date-palm trees be cut down. The trunks of the trees were arranged so as to form the walls facing the Qiblah. The stone pillars were built at the sides of its gate. They started to move the stones, reciting some lines of verse, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was with them when they were saying: 'O Allah! There is no good except the good of the Hereafter. So bestow victory on the Ansar and the Muhajirin.'"
Chapter 13: The Prohibition Of Taking Graves As Masjids
"When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was on his deathbed, he had a Khamisah over his face. When his temperature rose, he would uncover his face. When his temperature rose, he would uncover his face. While he was like that he said: 'May Allah curse the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.'"
"Those people, if there was a righteous man among them, when he died they built a place of worship over his grave and made those images. They will be the most evil of creation before Allah on the Day of Resurrection."
Chapter 14: The Virtue Of Going To The Masjid
"When a man goes out of his house to his Masjid, one foot records a good deed and the other erases a bad deed."
Chapter 15: The Prohibition Of Preventing Women From Going To The Masjid
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'When the wife of any one of you asks for permission to go to the Masjid, do not stop her.'"