assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,
Unfortunately, it seems like we as a collaborative ummah love to transfer responsibilities to others. Many of us are negligent of caring whether the houses of Allah are clean or not. There are too many brothers/sisters turning a blind eye to dirt in the Masjid. And you see several individuals dropping tissues and other stuff and pretending not to notice. So here are a few steps we can take to help keep the Masajids clean and at the same time gain a tremendous amount of reward in doing so insha Allah.
Before reading the steps, remember the Hadith where the Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa salam) praised the lady who used to clean the Masjid, when she passed away he was not notified and they prayed the janazah without Him. When he found out he specially prayed janazah just for her due to her actions. Good hadith to keep in mind while reading these steps. inshaAllah we will begin:
1. Treat the Masjid like your own House - Very simple and self explanatory. You try your best to keep the carpets in the house clean and tidy. Every now and then you vacuum the house or mop the floors. This is your house; imagine how much more cleaner should you keep the House of Allah.
2. Preparation before Guests Arrive - When you have guests coming over, you make that extra effort to make sure the house is very clean, smells good and nicely decorated. What about the House of Allah where there are not only your Brothers/Sisters, there are continuously Angels praising and glorifying Allah. Also, what if a non-Muslim guest arrives to get information about Islam? A soon to be Muslim might be discouraged to accept Islam by feeling Muslims are unclean.
3. A collaborative effort - The Ummah needs to work together in solving issues like this. If we keep shifting responsibilities to others (ex. the caretaker), we wont be able to solve this issue. Just like the parking situation in the Masjids, if one person parks properly and the rest park like fools, will it solve the problem? Remember those old clean up days in middle school, where the entire classroom worked together to clean up, not just one individual. If everyone does their share the overall outcome is better and easier to achieve. Do not just follow and say just because so and so did so and so, I will do the same.
4. Wear clean clothes (especially socks) - Self explanatory. If you are simply to lazy to wear clean socks, at the minimum wear clean socks on Fridays. Spray some fabric fresheners in your clothes and socks in order to smell fresh. The socks smell is tremendous in some places. Sometimes in Sujood you can smell the brother in front and it completely ruins your khushoo. This takes us to the next step.
5. Perfume yourselves (applies to men only) - Stop smelling like curry, get some nice smelling Attr (not the horrible fake mixed with water ones). A good trick is to put some on your palms and forehead, that way when you go into Sujood your are also making the Masjid smell good! Imagine if everyone did this! But remember everything should be done in moderation and not extreme levels. Sharing your Attr with others is also a good idea and a great way for earning more rewards.
6. Buy Air Freshener- A very simple step to help keep the Masjid smelling good. Just go to the dollar store and pick up some sprays or plug in air fresheners, leave it in the Masjid so anyone can utilize it and inshaAllah your rewards will grow. It is only a few dollars! You can also buy some Attr and put it on the bookshelves so others can make use of it.
7. Washrooms! - Please keep the washrooms dry and clean. A book can be written about how bad the washrooms in the Masajid are. At times they are so bad that it is preferable to go to a public washroom over the Masjid washroom.
8. Watch what you eat - It is sad that a lot of brothers and uncles cant stop burping, when it is an act specifically detested by the Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa salam) in the Authentic hadith. No Angels want to be around the burper, how can you seek the pleasure of Allah by burping? Believe me also the guy beside you is getting irritated no matter how nice the brother might be. So please stop burping! There is obviously a reason why Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa salam) detested it. Also remember that he prohibited eating garlic and onions before entering the Masjid. 90% of the curry we cook have onions, so not only do you smell onions, you smell some fried curry mixed onion! Imagine if you entered the Masjid with the Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa salam) there.
9. Keep the shoe racks neat and tidy. 10. Do not throw things in the wudu area. It looks disgusting, especially those wet paper towels. Lastly remember the last two ayahs from Surah Az Zalzalah, Search it up right now if you do not know them. These are just a few steps we can take, I am sure there are many more, feel free to share this with others. This was not intended to target anyone specific; rather it is for myself and for all of us as a reminder inshaAllah. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings and assist us in keeping His Houses clean. Aameen.
Your brother in Islam,
Fares Elahi
Jan 2011
