Garlic, Onions, and Unpleasant Odours in the Mosque الثوم والبصل والروائح الكريهة في المسجد

(The recording begins partway through the reading of the questions.)

Questioner: ... The third question: have onions and garlic come in the Book of Allah described with blame? And is eating garlic to be abandoned on account of the Messenger's ﷺ warning, given that it cuts [a person off from the mosque] for a long time — I mean, [because of] the smell?

[The second question, about acid reflux, is answered in Vomiting, Acid Reflux, and Cupping While Fasting.]

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and abundant peace.

As for the question concerning eating garlic and onions, and whether blame for eating garlic and onions has come in the Book or in the Sunnah: in the statement of Allah, majestic and exalted is He, "and the tree cursed in the Qur'an," (audio unclear) garlic and onions. Others said it is the tree of the Jews, which is the gharqad tree, and that this is the tree cursed in the Qur'an.

And the Prophet ﷺ says: "Whoever eats garlic or onions, let him not come near our place of prayer." [And] the other hadith: "The angels are harmed by what the children of Adam are harmed by." So as long as human beings are harmed by the smell of garlic and onions, the angels are harmed by that. And in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ found the smell of garlic or onions on a man and sent him out to al-Baqi'. The Prophet ﷺ does not command a man to leave the congregation except for a grave matter, because this harms those praying. Prayer needs humility (khushu') and presence of heart, and the heart is not humble or present in prayer as long as there is a man beside you with an unpleasant smell.

And fouler than the smell of garlic and onions is the smell of tobacco smoke, (audio unclear) unpleasant smells, the smells of sweat. Therefore it is obligatory to check the armpits and to check the places where smells are likely to be found. This is obligatory upon every Muslim, because the reason [for the ruling] is present here — it is present here — and it may even be stronger.

For this reason more than one of the scholars made the ghusl on Friday obligatory, to cut off smells, remove dirt, and apply perfume. The majority hold this to be recommended. And Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah have mercy on him — and it is a third view on the matter — makes it obligatory upon the one who has a smell, and this is the most balanced and strongest of the views. Indeed, if it were said that whoever has a smell on him is obliged to remove it and sins by leaving it, that would be a sound view — even at any time — so that he removes these unpleasant smells, because he harms the Muslims with his smell. The ruling remains until the smell goes, until it ceases.

But in the hadith of al-Mughirah in Abu Dawud, the Prophet ﷺ granted a concession to the one who eats it as a remedy, not out of desire — to the one who eats it as a remedy, not out of desire. This may have been a specific individual case (qadiyyat 'ayn), or it may not have been a specific case, in which case the ruling is permanent and ongoing.

النص العربي الأصلي