I was wondering about the permissibility of non-Muslims entering Mecca? 

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question:

I was wondering about the permissibility of non-Muslims entering Mecca?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad, his folk, companions, and followers

 

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

In the Hanafi school, it is permitted for non-Muslims to enter all mosques, including the Haram of Mecca, as they interpreted the Qur’anic verse

009.028 O you who believe! The idolaters only are unclean. So let them not come near the Inviolable Place of Worship after this their year.

to be a specific prohibition against them entering as they did before Islam in the Days of Jahiliyya, in which they entered with their idols, manifested their polytheistic worship, and engaged in reprehensible actions such as performing tawaf while naked. [Sarakhsi, Sharh al-Siyar al-Kabir, 1.134-135; Ibn al-Humam/Marghinani, Fath al-Qadir `ala al-Hidaya, 10.63] As for the idolaters being unclean (najas), that refers to spiritual uncleanness due to their beliefs rather than physical uncleanness. [Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur’an; Kasani, Bada’i` al-Sana’i`]

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani

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