Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I was having food with one of my friend and i had something with onion, i asked him if he would come for isha namaz with me we have two mosque in our area one starts isha namaz at 8:15 other at 8:35 while eating it was 8:20 so i asked him if he would come with me to the mosque where namaz time is 8:35 he told me he does not goes to that mosque because the imam there prays the namaz very fast so he does not goes in that mosque secondly he told me i cant go to mosque coz i did eat onion i know that one cannot go to mosque with bad odour so i told him that i will have a mouth freshner and i will go and clean my mouth properly while doing wazu then he told me that during prophet mohammed saws there was no mouth freshner i want to know if i am right in going to mosque or should i have avoided it that day ( i went to mosque that day ) i generally avoid onion but i did forget it that day. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Garlic bad smell

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Statement: he told me he does not goes to that mosque because the imam there prays the namaz very fast so he does not goes in that mosque

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2527 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘Striving in the path of Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious; the prayer is obligatory on you behind every believer, pious or impious, even if he commits grave sins; the (funeral) prayer is incumbent upon every Muslim, pious and impious, even if he commits major sins.’

Beloved brother in Islam, regardless of how fast the imaam prays the ‘salaah’, it would not effect the reward of the congregation praying behind him. One cannot use the prayer of the imaam as an excuse not to pray in the mosques!

Your Statement: secondly he told me i cant go to mosque coz i did eat onion

Indeed, the Prophet (saws) disliked that someone who had eaten uncooked onion or garlic would attend the prayers in the mosques, before they had thoroughly cleaned their mouths. But if one cleans his mouth with a freshner, or mint, or toothbrush, or uses a ‘miswak’, etc., there is absolutely no harm in attending the mosques.

Beloved and dear brother, it seems that your friend might be looking for ‘legal’ excuses not to attend the congregational prayers in the mosques, when there are none in Shariah. It is absolutely obligatory for a believing man to offer the five obligatory prayers in the mosques.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan