Features of the religious practice of women. Seven rules for visiting the mosque When you can go to the mosque

Muslims are required to visit the mosque in a state of complete ritual purification (in a state of large and small ablution)

Shoes are left at the entrance. In large mosques, special employees accept shoes and issue a token

During your stay in the mosque, you should take a free place, trying not to disturb the peace of other believers

It is important to keep your intention pure while in the mosque and therefore not engage in idle talk, backbiting, etc.

Women usually pray on the second floor or in a fenced-off part of the first floor. The entrance to the mosque for men and women is both common and separate

In the mosque, visitors behave quite relaxed: they sit or lie on the floor, read the Koran or focus on the thought of the Almighty, communicate with each other, sleep, eat. At the same time, at any time, someone can pray, so you should not speak loudly, laugh, and even more so scold

When the time for prayer comes, the believers perform ablution (wudu) and line up behind the imam. For men, the first row is the most honorable and valuable, and for women, on the contrary, the last. Those who for some reason do not take part in collective prayer are not required to leave the mosque

It is forbidden:

Visiting a mosque without taking a bath

Women are forbidden to visit the mosque during menstruation. However, when using modern forms of hygiene (pads, for example), women are allowed to visit mosques on critical days, if necessary.

I got to know the Blue Mosque on my very first day in Istanbul. Then we settled in a small private hotel near Sultanahmet Square, located in the center of the city's district of the same name.

In my opinion, the Sultanahmet area is the best place to stay for a first acquaintance with Istanbul. Everything is nearby, once again you will not need to spend time and money on transport, and if you are going to visit places that are more remote from the center and not very popular with tourists, then the main transport interchanges are within easy reach - Sikerdzhi station, bus station, piers, where do the ferries depart from.

Here you can not only admire world-famous sights, such as the Sultanahmet Mosque (Sultanahmet Camiil) - it is also the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum (Ayasofya Müzesi), Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnici), Topkapi Palace (Topkapi Saray Müzesi), Archaeological Museum (Istanbul Arkeoloji Müseleri), Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Türk Islam Eserleri Müzesi), Roksolana Baths (Ayasofya Hürrem Sultan Hamami), Grand Bazaar ( KapalIcarşI), but also just wander through the narrow streets, look at the Ottoman mansions, shop windows and cafes.

The next morning we went for a walk. They did not plot the route using the navigator, almost did not look at the map, they walked, as they say, on a whim - still nearby, two steps away. They just took a course to Sultanahmet Square and, adhering to it, deviated a little, went into alleys, looked at houses and shop windows.

Thus, after about an hour we were at the Blue Mosque, but not at the main entrance to it:

This view opens from this very arch:

Of course, this is not the most traditional way to get acquainted with the masterpiece of world architecture, but looking at the mosque from this side, for some reason I am imbued with its grandeur and majesty even more than at the main gate.

Helpful information. How to find where to enter

As already mentioned, the Blue Mosque is located in the heart of the historic Sultanahmet district.

To the square Sultanahmet (Sultanahmet ) can be reached by tram branches T1"Zeytinburnu" - "Kabatash" (" Zeitinburnu" - "Kabatas"), stretching almost through the entire historical center of the city.

You need to get off at the stop called " Sultanahmet. Blue Mosque ".

The Blue Mosque has 3 entrances.

Entrance A "looks" directly at the Hagia Sophia, where the most crowded. It looks like this:

And this is the view from Hagia Sophia:

Entrance B is located on the side of the Hippodrome, which is located to the right of entrance A (if you are facing it), immediately behind the shopping arcade:

As you can see, there are very few people here.

Entrance C is special. Above him, unlike the others, hangs a chain. At one time, this entrance could be used by the Sultan, who rode into the courtyard of the mosque without dismounting from his horse. And in order to show your humility and respect for Allah, to emphasize your insignificance in front of him, you had to bend down each time, passing under a low-hanging chain.

Entrance C is also located on the side of the Hippodrome, a little further from entrance B, almost opposite the Egyptian obelisk:

This is the view from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, located directly opposite the S.

Personal impressions. Tours and guides

As I already wrote, we ended up in the courtyard of the mosque in a not quite traditional way. And while we looked around, impressed and photographed everything, a man approached us and said that the entrance for tourists is a little further. We, in fact, were not going to enter there, we saw a sign:

("entrance for visitors to the right, for worshipers - to the left, here").

Nevertheless, we thanked him and moved on to the guest entrance. But the restless man decided that we needed to give valuable instructions about the shoes to be removed at the entrance, and at the same time began to skillfully insert various historical "interesting things" into the "instructions" text. We already began to understand that such persistent care of us is nothing but business, but the guy was pleasant, spoke good English, and we, still in euphoria after the first day, succumbed to his persistence.

He escorted us to the entrance, reminded us to take off our shoes, showed us where to put them, gave us a tour, answered our questions, offered to take pictures of us and, of course, left us his business card in case we wanted to take a walk around the other historical sites of the Sultanahmet area.

At the end of the tour, we realized that the price should have been negotiated at the beginning - his services cost 5 euros / 15 TL (Turkish liras) per person, which is not cheap, given that the entrance to the mosque is free, and no more information was received than in articles from guidebooks such as Dorling Kindersley and The Orange Guide.

In the future, in "especially tourist" places, we often encountered this way of doing business. It seems that they don’t offer you anything bad, but they don’t do it in an open way, and in itself this is not very pleasant.

There is no need to be afraid or embarrassed to refuse services that you do not need, you will not offend anyone by this, but you will not get an unpleasant aftertaste from the fact that they were imposed on you. We did not scold ourselves for being confused, but regarded this episode as a new experience.

If you want to use the services of a guide, then you should take care of this in advance, for example:

buy a tour at the tourist information center (it is located on the same Sultanahmet square, next to the tram stop);
find on the internet. At the request of "an individual guide in Istanbul" there are a sufficient number of offers - read, choose according to your taste, contact the guide;
It is possible to order an excursion on the spot in museums. In mosques, of course, this service is not available.

Opening hours of the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00, but is closed to tourists during prayer (prayer).

Prayer (prayer) is performed five times a day, its time depends on the location of the sun in the sky and, accordingly, cannot be constant.

A very approximate time interval for the beginning of prayers:

5-6 am, 9-10 am, noon, 4-5 pm, 7-8 pm.

There are also Friday and holiday prayers.

In any case, the muezzins inform about the beginning of the prayer, or rather, about the invitation to it - their call is carried from the minarets of all mosques to the whole city.

It is interesting that the call to prayer does not occur at the same time, but with a slight “overlay” - starting at one point in the city, it, like a relay race, passes from one mosque to another and at some point, merging together, covers the entire city.

Entrance to all mosques in the city is free.

Rules for visiting mosques

The Blue Mosque is active, like the vast majority of the city's mosques (there are about three thousand in total!). When visiting mosques, the following rules must be observed:

clothing should cover the body as much as possible (trousers, not shorts; a skirt that is below the knee; preferably a long sleeve at the top of the clothing);
women need to cover their heads (capes are provided);
you need to take off your shoes at the entrance to the mosque.

good advice
If you are in Istanbul in winter and plan to often go to mosques and look at their interiors, I recommend taking care of warm socks - a little cooler outside, and your feet start to freeze.

Personal Observations

I want to note that during our numerous visits to mosques, we have never encountered any dissatisfaction with parishioners and ministers, I have never been reprimanded if I was with my head uncovered. I noticed that believers really come to pray, and they don’t care about tourists.

History of the Blue Mosque

Sultanahmet Mosque ( Sultanahmet Camiil), or the Blue Mosque (tour. Mavi Сami - blue mosque, Gök Сami - heavenly mosque), as the Europeans later began to call it, was built by order of the young Sultan Ahmet I at the beginning of the 17th century.

After more than a century of growth and flourishing of the Ottoman Empire, a significant increase in its territories in the east and south, the end of the reign of the great commander and reformer Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire began to lose its strength and power.

In 1606, the war with Austria was lost, and the Turks had to recognize the imperial title of the Habsburgs; at the same time, there was a war with Iran, which took away forces, and, as a result, led to the defeat of the Turks.

These and other reasons could not but affect the weakening of Turkey's power and, accordingly, the internal mood in the state.

In 1609, the young sultan decided that the time had come to turn to Allah for help, but first he needed to pay tribute to him for his sins. Building a mosque is the best way. Any Muslim knows that the person who built the mosque will be rewarded for this at the end of his life's journey.

Therefore, Sultan Ahmet was going to build not just a mosque, but a mosque worthy of Allah himself, for which he invited Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, the most talented student of Haji Sinan, one of the best architects of his era.

They decided to build the mosque on the site of the palace of the Byzantine emperors, directly opposite the former Hagia Sophia. For this, the palace and many of its buildings, which belonged to the nobility, were destroyed. There was nothing left of the spectator seats at the Hippodrome.

In the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul in the hall “Byzantine era in the territory of Istanbul” (1st floor, hall No. 3) you can see the remains of the palace of the Byzantine emperors, as well as its virtual reconstruction. The scale is really impressive!

It is difficult to say whether the young sultan wanted to challenge the “ghost” of Constantinople in the person of the majestic Hagia Sophia, or whether his main goal was to propitiate Allah by building such a grandiose structure, surpassing all existing buildings in size and richness of interior decoration, including those left from the Byzantine times.

The sincere faith of the Sultan in the mercy of Allah is also confirmed by the fact that he allocated money for the construction of the mosque from his personal treasury, and did not use the state treasury. Usually his predecessors built mosques with money obtained in wars, but Ahmet did not win a single significant victory.

The construction of the mosque lasted seven years - from 1609 to 1616.

Sultan Ahmet I lived another year after the completion of construction, and died of typhus at the age of 27 and was buried in the garden of the mosque.

Architecture of the Blue Mosque

The architecture of the Sultanahmet Mosque combines Byzantine and classical Ottoman styles. At first glance, the Sultanahmet Mosque seems to reflect the monumental Hagia Sophia. A little more “modern”, a little more streamlined, but its proportions, cascades of domes and majesty definitely make clear the similarity of these monumental creations.

If you look closely, you will see a fundamental difference, perceptible in detail.

Blue Mosque:

Hagia Sophia:

For greater persuasiveness, you can imagine how it looked without minarets:

The style of architecture is determined not only by forms, but by a whole host of factors. This is both the spirit of the time, and materials, and the internal content of the architectural space.

For those who are interested in comparing Byzantine cathedrals with mosques, I suggest looking at the monuments of Orthodox architecture in Istanbul, which are carefully preserved and restored as far as possible: Hagia Irene, Church of the Savior in Hori (Kariye Müzesi), Pantokrator Monastery and others.

The base of the Blue Mosque in architectural terms is a rectangle with sides of 72x64 meters, it is easy to calculate that its area is 4608 square meters! Exactly the same amount of space is occupied by the courtyard.

Such a large territory is due not only to the desire to demonstrate scope, but is also used for practical and noble purposes - in addition to the mosque, there was a whole complex of buildings: a hospital, kitchens, a madrasah, a caravanserai and some charitable institutions. In the 19th century, all of them were destroyed, but the madrasah is still operating. It is located in the east wing.

Madrasah - letters. "a place where they study" - a Muslim educational institution in which the high school program is combined with the program of the Muslim theological seminary.

In the center of the courtyard is a hexagonal fountain for ablutions:

Today the fountain is decorative. Those who come to prayer perform ablutions in front of the entrance to the courtyard, using, of course, not a fountain, but a modern water supply.

The legend of the six minarets

The most common legend about why Sultanahmet has six minarets says that Mehmet Aga allegedly misheard when he listened to the instructions of the Sultan and instead of “altyn minare” (tour. altın minareler - golden minarets) heard "alty minare" (tour. altı minareli - six minarets).

It is hard to believe in the deafness of the architect, especially since the sultan personally supervised the construction of the mosque, appearing every Friday for its construction.

More plausible is the version that the Sultan deliberately decided to go against all laws in order to surpass Hagia Sophia in significance and grandeur, which at that time was the main mosque of the city and had four minarets (the maximum possible number).

When the construction was completed, the imams ( imam - a clergyman in charge of a mosque) were indignant at such audacity of the young sultan and accused him of pride - after all, there were the same number of minarets in the Forbidden Mosque in Mecca - the maximum possible number! Sultan Ahmet did not change anything in his offspring, but in order to remain Mecca, he paid for the construction of the seventh minaret for the Forbidden Mosque.

The conflict was settled, and the Blue Mosque flaunts to this day with its six minarets, looking up, remaining the only one of its kind - exalted, elegant and majestic.

Numbers

Four minarets stand at the corners of the mosque and have three balconies each.

Two minarets are located at the end of the square and have two balconies each. The height of each minaret is 64 meters.

Interior of the Blue Mosque

space and light

The first thing that catches your eye when you get inside is the huge space and its lighting.

The mosque has subdued light, but at the same time there is enough of it to give the colors the opportunity to play on the patterns of the tiles. This is truly a unique experience.

The trick is that the volumetric space is illuminated through small windows, some of which are covered with stained-glass windows. Those. the space is illuminated, as it were, in parts, the light is focused on a small area, but due to the number of these “tricks”, the illusion of its distraction is created.

It looks something like if 50 candles were placed in the room, each of which illuminated a small object, and the central lighting was turned off.

There is also central lighting in the mosque. This is a huge chandelier-candlestick, suspended under the main dome and with a diameter no less than it.

Long chains lower her very low, and in the proportions of the mosque she looks almost lying on the floor.

The floor is covered with a huge carpet. It is not blue at all, but red, more precisely the color of pomegranate, with traditional flower fragments:

I still remember the pleasant sensations of walking on it - clean, soft, cool.

Numbers

The central hall measuring 53.50x49.47 (2646 m2) can accommodate 35,000 people at a time.

The height of the central dome is 43 meters and its diameter is 23.5 meters.

The diameter of each column (there are four of them) on which the dome rests is 5 meters.

There are 260 windows in the Blue Mosque, and those that frame the dome are placed in such a way that an illusion of its suspension, hovering in the air is created:

Iznik miracle

Iznik is a small city, known since antiquity as Nicaea and at one time played a big role in the development of Christianity.

At the beginning of the XIV century, it was captured by the Turks and received a new name, which it bears to this day. From the end of the 15th century, the production of unique ceramics began to develop in the city, which later glorified it. At the time of the construction of the mosque, there was no better choice for decorating its interior than tiles from Iznik, and while the mosque was being built (and this took seven years), the Sultan was forbidden to supply them to other customers. The samples for the mosque were regularly supplied, but the work was not well paid, and, unfortunately, the factory's business gradually fell into disrepair. But that is another story…

The interior of the mosque is irresistible thanks mainly to the famous Iznik ceramics, its handmade tiles, the main color scheme of which is blue, white and pomegranate. It is due to the combination of these colors, the predominant of which is blue-blue and its shades, that the impression of heavenly airiness and lightness is created.

The main motif of the drawings is a floral ornament. Tulips, hyacinths, pomegranate flowers. Unfortunately, I did not find photos with a separate image of the tiles of the Blue Mosque, only a general view:

But in the Rustem Pasha Mosque, the interior of which is also tiled with Iznik tiles, I bought a set of postcards depicting floral motifs. Here are a few for example:

Numbers

It took 21,043 tiles of more than 50 different samples to decorate the interior of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque.

mihrab and minbar

A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca..

In the Sultanahmet Mosque, it is carved from a single piece of white marble, decorated with the finest carvings.

A piece of Black stone from the Kaaba is inserted into the frame of the mihrab.

The Kaaba is a Muslim shrine in the form of a cubic building in the courtyard of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. According to legend, this is the first building erected by people to serve God.

Note

I repeat that the Blue Mosque is the second name of the Sultanahmet Mosque, as the Turks say, this is the “nickname” given to it by the Europeans. They themselves call her Sultanahmet or Ahmediye!

Rent a Car- also aggregation of prices from all distributors, all in one place, let's go!

Have something to add?

The prayer of greeting the mosque (tahiyatul-masjid) is one of the additional prayers performed during a visit to the mosque. Namaz tahiyat should be performed immediately after entering the mosque. At the entrance to the mosque say:

اللَّهُمَّ افْتَحْ لِي أَبْوَابَ رَحْمَتِك

« Allahumma-ftahlii abwaba rahmatika» translation: "O Allah, open for me the gates of Your mercy" . then they read salawat - the formula of the blessing of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

It is advisable to enter the mosque from the right foot, and before sitting down, one should perform two rak'ahs of namaz-tahiyat. This is the order of a reliable hadith cited by Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim.

One of the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ says: “If any of you enter the mosque, let him not sit down until he has performed two rak'ahs of the salutation prayer” (Bukhari, Muslim). In the event that a believer visits the house of Allah several times a day, then reading one prayer tahiyat per day is sufficient.

It is undesirable to sit in the mosque without performing tahiyat, unless there is a special reason for it (illness, etc.). Once, when the companion of the Prophet ﷺ Abu Dharr sat down in the mosque without performing two rak'yats of salutation, the Prophet ﷺ called out to him: "O Abu Dharr! Indeed, the mosque has a greeting in the form of a two-rak'ah prayer. Get up and do it!” . But if there is a need to immediately make up for the missed prayer or the time of the obligatory prayer ends, then it is forbidden to perform tahiyat (haram). It is undesirable to perform tahiyat even if the call to start prayer (ikamah) has sounded or the collective prayer has already begun.

If a person, having come to the mosque, intentionally sits down even for a short time, for example, a person sits down to drink water, touching the back of the body on the ground, then prayer is missed. But if he sat down on his feet so that the back does not touch the ground, and not much time has passed, then tahiyat prayer is not missed, in this case he should get up and perform salah. Also, tahiyat-namaz is not missed if he accidentally or not knowing sat down, while not much time has passed.

Namaz is missed if he stood for a long time, regardless of whether it was done consciously or out of forgetfulness. A long period of time is considered to be such a period that exceeds the average time for performing two rak'ahs. But if he did not stand for a long time, then the time of prayer-tahiyat is not missed, even if he stood deliberately.

If someone, due to the impossibility of performing ablution and his absence, cannot perform prayer or does not want to perform it, and also if he does not know how to perform prayer, then it is advisable for him to say:

سُـبْحانَ اللهِ، والحمْـدُ لله ، ولا إلهَ إلاّ اللهُ واللهُ أكبَر، وَلا حَولَ وَلا قوّة إلاّ باللّهِ العليّ العظيم

“Subhanallahi, wal hamdulillahi, wa la illaha illallahu walllahu akbar, waly hawla valya quwwata illa billahil Aliyil Azim” Translation: “Exalted is Allah, praise be to Allah; there is none worthy of worship except Allah; Allah is great; no one has power and strength except Allah, the High, the Great.. Some have said that it is advisable to read it four times. And this replaces tahiyat prayer. It is said that this replaces tahiyat, as well as prostration (sajda) performed while reading the Qur'an or for the purpose of thanking Allah. But if it is possible to perform ablution, then this prayer does not replace tahiyat, but according to the words of Imam al-Ghazali, given in his book “Ihyau ulumi ddin”, the opposite is understood.

Namaz-tahiyat is also considered perfect if, immediately upon entering the mosque, you perform any prayer (prayer-farz, prayer-sunnat, whether it is timely or reimbursable), because the main goal is to perform prayer before you sit down in the mosque. Therefore, if a Muslim immediately begins to perform any prayer at the entrance to the mosque, he will receive a reward for tahiyat. If, along with the intention to perform any prayer, intend and perform tahiyat, then the reward increases. Most of all, the reward is due for performing separately, first tahiyat, then another prayer.

When should tahiyat not be performed?

During a visit to the Al-Haram Forbidden Mosque, located in Mecca (in this case, the role of greeting is performed by walking around the Kaaba)
At the entrance to the mosque with the intention to perform a festive prayer (salyatul-‘eid) on the feast of Conversation (‘Iidul-fitr, Eid al-Fitr) and the feast of sacrifice (‘Iidul-adha, Eid al-Adha). The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not perform any prayers before and after the festive
In the case of entering the mosque at the time of the beginning of the obligatory prayer (fard), the Prophet ﷺ said: “If people stand up for an obligatory prayer (iqamah is already being read), then no other, except for this one, is performed”
In the case of entering the mosque during the reading of the Friday khutba (sermon), this is according to the Hanafi madhhab. (However, Shafi'i scholars allow the performance of namaz takhiyat during the khutba. In a hadith cited by at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i, Hakim and others, it says: “When one of you enters the mosque, let him not sit down until he has performed the two-rakah prayer” )
In the event that the believer, after visiting the mosque, has already performed any other prayer, since this prayer replaces the greeting.
During periods condemned for performing prayers (Regarding the undesirability of performing this prayer during periods condemned for performing prayers (shortly before sunrise and sunset, as well as while the sun is at its zenith), the opinions of Muslim scholars differ. According to the Hanafi madhhab, the performance of prayer tahiyat during these periods of time is undesirable.Proof of this is the hadeeth of the Prophet ﷺ: “Prayer is not performed after the morning prayer and before sunrise, and also after the afternoon prayer until the sun disappears below the horizon”(Bukhari, Muslim). Shafi'i scholars believe that a Muslim should perform tahiyat prayer, even if a person visited the mosque at a time condemned for performing prayer. Both opinions are based on the Sunnah of the Prophet, but they are distinguished by different criteria that formed the basis of theological analysis. Also read the article when you can not read prayer?)

How to read tahitul masjid prayer?

The prayer of greeting the mosque consists of 2 rak'ahs, the performance of which is identical to the two-rakah prayers. The intention is pronounced like this: "I intend to perform namaz-tahiyat in 2 rak'ahs."

The purpose of the tahiyat prayer is to exalt the owner of the mosque - Almighty Allah, and not to exalt the mosque itself, and if a person intends to glorify the mosque itself while observing the tahiyat prayer, his prayer is not counted. When making an intention, even if we pronounce it as follows (I intend to perform a two-rakah prayer of exalting the mosque), then we should keep in mind the exaltation not of the mosque itself, but of its Owner, that is, Almighty Allah.

Muslim men go to the mosque at least once a week to perform worship ceremonies. Mosques are the houses of the Almighty, and the people who visit them become guests of the Creator.

When a person comes to visit someone, he tries to observe the rules of decency adopted in this society. The situation is similar with mosques, when visiting which the believer must adhere to a number of religious and ethical norms.

1. They enter the mosque from the right foot

When going to a mosque, one should remember that the first step at its door should be made with the right foot, as the Messenger of the Almighty (s.g.v.) instructed that “It is Sunnah to enter the mosque with the right foot” (Hakim).

2. Before entering, read a special prayer (dua)

3. Take off your shoes and put them away carefully

At the entrance to mosques, as a rule, there are seats so that it is convenient for visitors to take off their shoes, which should be put away in a specially designated place (shelves, a separate wardrobe or a section of the floor). In one of the hadiths cited by Ahmad, it is said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered the believers to clean the mosques from dirt. In addition, if a person leaves their shoes right on the aisle, it may make it difficult for other people to enter the mosque.

4. Greet those present

A Muslim, entering the house of Allah, should greet his brothers in faith, as the Messenger of the Lord (peace be upon him) said: “Verily, the closest people to Allah are those who greet others first” (Abu Daud, Tirmidhi). At the same time, it is advisable to use its full form when greeting, namely: “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.” Using such an address, the believer earns himself more reward than for the usual greeting.

5. Perform the Salutation Prayer

Before sitting down, it is advisable for a believer to perform a prayer of greeting to the mosque, as advised by the Grace of the Worlds Muhammad (s.g.v.), according to the hadiths of Bukhari. This prayer consists of 2 rak'ahs, the procedure for performing which is no different from, with the exception of the intention (niyat).

6. Do not pass in front of the worshipers

If at the entrance to the mosque you find that one of the believers is praying, then you should not pass in front of him if there is no obstacle in front of him. The Messenger of the Merciful and Merciful (s.g.v.) said: “If the one who passes in front of the one who performs the prayer knew about the severity of this sin, then instead of passing, he would prefer to stand 40” (Bukhari, Muslim). In this case, it is not known what the Prophet (S.G.V.) had when speaking about 40 - days, months, years, rak'ahs or prayers.

In the event that it is very urgent to pass in front of the worshiper, then it is allowed to put up some kind of barrier, which can be, for example, a jacket or a bag.

7. Don't make others uncomfortable

Remember that you are not alone in the mosque, which means that the rights of other Muslims should be taken into account. For example, if the mosque is very crowded, then there is no need to sit in a wreck, thereby depriving other believers of space.

8. Don't raise your voice

While in the mosque, Muslims should not talk loudly, especially on abstract topics that are not related to matters of worship, especially if at that moment the azan or sermon sounds, and the Koran is read. During their stay in the mosque, believers can be busy with various activities. Some can just sit and wait for prayers, while others are reading the Koran, others are praying, and others are surfing social networks through gadgets. And by raising your voice, you can distract a fellow believer who is praying or reading the Koran.

The Prophet of God (S.G.V.) warned about the appearance of such people: “Before the offensive, people will appear who will gather in mosques in groups, and the imam and they will have dunya (worldly affairs)! Do not sit down with them, for the Almighty has no need for them!” (Hakim, Tabarani).

9. Don't Trade

In addition, it is strictly forbidden to conduct trading activities in mosques. Unfortunately, this phenomenon occurs in some prayer houses. The Prophet (pbuh) said: “Do not engage in trade in mosques, do not argue and do not raise your voices there ...” (Ibn Maja).

10. Listen attentively to the adhan, recitation of the Qur'an or sermon

If during your stay in the mosque you hear the azan or the reading of the Koran, or the sermon of the imam, then you must listen silently, because, firstly, you will not interfere with listening to others, and secondly, you will not raise worldly conversations over reading the Koran and, thirdly, if a person listens attentively, then he has the right to claim the reward of the Lord of the worlds.

11. Pray properly

Obviously, a believer, while in a mosque, should pray in the prescribed manner so that his prayer is accepted by the Almighty, and that he gains a reward for him and deserves the forgiveness of sins. According to the hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) instructed: “If the servant of Allah performs the prayer correctly, the angels read a prayer for him as long as he is in the place where he performed the prayer” (Muslim).

12. Make dua

The faithful, who are guests of their Creator, while in the mosque, should read the dua, asking the Lord to forgive sins and bestow blessings in both worlds.

13. It is undesirable to constantly sleep in the mosque for no reason.

In addition, it should be remembered that it is undesirable for believers to sleep in the “house of Allah” without good reasons for this. An exception to this rule may be situations when a Muslim has lost his home or when he is on the road and decided to rest in the mosque.

Benefits of visiting mosques

- Get more rewards- for each prayer in a Muslim prayer house, believers receive a reward that is many times greater than the reward for prayer at home. In one of the hadiths it is said that the Almighty promised a reward for collective prayer, which is 27 times higher than the barakah for individual prayer (Muslim).

- Unity of the Ummah- visiting mosques, we draw closer to our brothers in faith, which, in turn, contributes to the unity of the Muslim ummah.

- Visitors to mosques are the guests of Allah. As already mentioned, mosques are, which means that those who visit them, those who respond to the invitation of the Lord, are His guests.

- The acquisition of knowledge- a believer during a sermon or during Islamic courses can gain new knowledge about religion.

Namaz-tahiyyat is a two-rakah prayer performed after entering the mosque.

At the entrance to the mosque, they say salavat - the formula of the blessing of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), then read:

اللَّهُمَّ افْتَحْ لِي أَبْوَابَ رَحْمَتِك

Translation: "O Allah, open for me the gates of Your mercy."

This prayer should be performed every time you enter the mosque, even if you entered for a short time. If you left for a short time and then re-entered, then in this case you should perform tahiyat. Namaz-tahiyat is also considered perfect if, immediately upon entering the mosque, you perform any prayer (prayer-farz, prayer-sunnat, whether it is timely or reimbursable), because the main goal is to perform prayer before you sit down in the mosque. Therefore, if a Muslim immediately begins to perform any prayer at the entrance to the mosque, he will receive a reward for tahiyat. If, along with the intention to perform any prayer, intend and perform tahiyat, then the reward increases. Most of all, the reward is due for performing separately, first tahiyat, then another prayer.

It is undesirable to sit in the mosque without having performed tahiyat, unless there is a special reason for this (illness, etc.). But if there is a need to immediately make up for the missed prayer or the time of the obligatory prayer ends, then it is forbidden to perform tahiyat (haram). It is undesirable to perform tahiyat even if the call to start prayer (ikamah) has sounded or the collective prayer has already begun.

If a Muslim sits in a mosque, then the time for namaz-tahiyat ends. His time also ends when he refuses to commit it. But if he sat down due to forgetfulness and no more time has passed than is necessary for performing a two-rakah prayer, then the time of tahiyat prayer is not considered completed. His time does not end even if you sit down with the intention to get up immediately, for example, due to fatigue or sit down to drink water. If someone, due to the impossibility of performing ablution and his absence, cannot perform prayer or does not want to perform it, then it is advisable for him to say four times:

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَلَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَاَللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إلَّا بِاَللَّهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيمِ

Translation: “Glory be to Allah, all praise be to Allah, there is no deity that should be worshiped except Allah, Allah is great and there is no power to leave the bad and no power to do good, except from Allah the Great and Majestic.”

It is said that this replaces tahiyat, as well as prostration (sajda) performed while reading the Qur'an or for the purpose of thanking Allah. But if it is possible to perform ablution, then this prayer does not replace tahiyat, but according to the words of Imam al-Ghazali, given in his book “Ihyau ulumi ddin”, the opposite is understood.

If on Friday a Muslim enters the mosque during the reading of the sermon (khutbah) by the imam, then he should also perform namaz-tahiyat.

In a hadith cited by at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasai, Hakim and others, it says: "When one of you enters the mosque, let him not sit down until he performs a two-rakah prayer."

Namaz-tahiyyat is an imperative sunnah (sunnatun muakkadatun). It is also allowed to perform during periods when it is undesirable to perform prayers. But if it was missed, then it is no longer necessary to compensate.

Intention is pronounced like this: "I set out to perform namaz-tahiyat."

Muhammad Khalikov

Lecturer at the Dagestan Theological Institute. Saida Afandi