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Fatwa CenterTravelling married couple staying together in the mosque at night
Question
Is it permissable for a man and wife to stay together inside the mosque at night. If they are travellers?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
The Muslim should not use the mosque as a cantina to eat, drink, sleep and for other activities that do not conform to the initial purpose of mosques. All the scholars are agreed on this. But there are some situations where it becomes permissible to use the mosque as a temporary shelter, such as described in the question and any circumstance similar to that of AHLU Suffa (Muslims who emigrated to Medina in the early period of Islam and who were without a place to live or any relatives in Medina who lived in the mosque). Another example is the poor old lady who used to sweep the Prophet's mosque and used it as a refuge.
Ibn Umar used to sleep in the mosque at night when he was single and did not have a place to live until he married.
So, anyone with a temporary need like we cited here could use the mosque. If a husband and a wife happen to be in dire necessity to use the mosque they can do so. But the woman should stay in the woman's prayer room, if there is any, or in an isolated corner in the rear of the mosque. They should stick to the ethic related to mosques. Remember that the Junub (person in the state of major impurity) should not enter the mosque. So, no intimate relations between the husband and his wife should take place inside the mosque; Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {And do not have sexual relations with them (your wives) while you are in I'tikâf (i.e. confining oneself in a mosque for prayers and invocations leaving the worldly activities) in the mosques}[2:187].
Allah knows best.
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