A Person in Major Impurity Entering the Mosque

The disagreement

• The majority (jumhur) agreed that ritual purity from major impurity (janabah) and minor impurity (hadath asghar) is a condition for prayer.
• They also agreed that it is a condition for touching and reciting the Mus-haf.
• They disagreed on whether a person in a state of major impurity (junub) may enter the mosque. This disagreement consists of three opinions.

The opinions

• The person in a state of major impurity is prohibited from entering the mosque absolutely:
• Held by: Abū Ḥanīfah and Mālik.
• It is permissible for them to pass through the mosque without staying:
• Held by: al-Shāfiʿī and Aḥmad.
• It is permissible for them to enter the mosque fully:
• Held by: Dāwūd.

Reason for the disagreement

• The hesitation over the saying of Allah the Exalted: ﴿يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ﴾ "O you who have believed, do not approach prayer" [An-Nisāʾ: 43]. Specifically, whether there is an omitted implied word (mahduf muqaddar) in this phrasing or not.

Evidence

For the first opinion:

• The apparent meaning of the narration from the Prophet ﷺ: "I do not make the mosque lawful for a menstruating woman or a person in a state of major impurity." [[Reported by: Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Khuzaymah; a group of scholars weakened it and a group authenticated it].
• The ḥadīth of Umm ʿAṭiyyah رضي الله عنها: "We were commanded to bring out the young women and the secluded women on the two Eids, and he commanded the menstruating women to stay away from the prayer place of the Muslims." [Agreed upon].

For the second opinion:

• The saying of Allah the Exalted: ﴿يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَعْلَمُوا۟ مَا تَقُولُونَ وَلَا جُنُبًا إِلَّا عَابِرِي سَبِيلٍ﴾ [An-Nisāʾ: 43]. There is an omitted word implied in the verse, estimated as: "the place of prayer" Thus, passing through ('abiri sabil) is exempted from the prohibition of approaching the place of prayer.
• On the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam رضي الله عنه: "The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to walk in the mosque while they were in a state of major impurity." [[Reported by: سط - al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat / Sa'id bin Mansur].

For the third opinion:

• The saying of Allah the Exalted: ﴿يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَٰرَىٰ﴾. The verse is taken literally. It prohibits a person in a state of major impurity from entering the prayer itself.
• The phrase "passing through the way" ('abir al-sabil) refers strictly to a traveler who cannot find water while in a state of major impurity.

The Preponderant View

• The second opinion: (Passing through the mosque is permissible for a person in a state of major impurity)
• Reasoning: Due to the clear text of the verse, the explicit exemption for passing through, and because it was the practiced norm among the Companions رضي الله عنهم by consensus.

References

Bidāyat al-Mujtahid wa Nihāyat al-Muqtaṣid (1/99), Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ (1/281), Tabyīn al-Ḥaqā’iq (1/162), al-Mudawwanah (1/37), al-Sharḥ al-Ṣaghīr (1/262), al-Awsaṭ (2/106), al-Majmūʿ (2/160), al-Mughnī (1/200), Sharḥ Ibn Zāḥim (1/308).