1. It is not permissible to make lost property announcements in the mosques or to make announcements about items that have been found. 2. Whoever wants to make a lost property announcement, let him go outside the mosque, and if he writes on a piece of paper and sticks it on the outside wall of the mosque. 3. If the advertisement has to do with an act of worship, there is nothing wrong with it. But if the advertisement has to do with worldly matters, then it is prohibited.
Answer
Contents Related
- Is it allowed to announce lost items in the mosque?
- What can you announce in the mosque?
Praise be to Allah.
Is it allowed to announce lost items in the mosque?
It is not permissible to make lost property announcements in the mosques or to make announcements about items that have been found, because the mosques were not built for that; rather the mosques were built for the remembrance of Allah.
Muslim (568) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever hears a man making a lost property announcement in the mosque, let him say: `May Allah not restore it to you, for the mosques were not built for this purpose.’”
Muslim (569) also narrated from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man made a lost property announcement in the mosque, saying: Has anyone found the red camel? The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “May you not find it. The mosques were only built for that for which they were built.”
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), “May you not find it,” and his instruction to say such words are a punishment [to the one who makes such announcements] for going against his teachings and disobeying him. The one who hears him [making such an announcement] should say: “May you not find it, for the mosques were not built for this.” Or he may say: “May you not find it; the mosques were only built for that for which they were built” – as the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said.”
Ibn `Abd Al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Allah, may He be Exalted, has stated that the mosques are houses which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evening [An-Nur 24:36]. It is for this purpose that they were built, so they should be protected from everything for which they were not built.” (Al-Istidhkar 2/368)
Al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated in As-Sunan (20763) that `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) built a public courtyard next to the mosque and called it Al-Butayha’. He used to say: Whoever wants to make noise or recite poetry or raise his voice, let him go out to this public courtyard. (See: Al-Istidhkar, 2/368)
So whoever wants to make a lost property announcement, let him go outside the mosque, and if he writes on a piece of paper and sticks it on the outside wall of the mosque, there is nothing wrong with that.
Whoever loses something in the mosque, and wants to tell the Imam of the mosque or the Mu’adhdhin or the caretaker, so that they can tell the one who finds it who it belongs to, and the like, there is nothing wrong with that, if he speaks to him privately.
