It was raining heavily in Bareilly during the blessed month of Ramadan. Due to the extreme cold, people were wearing woollen clothes and staying warm covered in their quilts. Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was performing i’tikaaf and spent every moment in the remembrance of Allah and His Messenger. The people left after offering Maghrib prayer, and the time for the Isha prayer drew near. The Imam became worried as he had to perform wudu, but there was no place to be safe from the cold rain whilst doing so. If wudu is performed in the masjid, the floor will be covered with used water, and the cold, heavy rain made it nearly impossible to go outside! What should be done? Those chosen by Allah for Islam are blessed with knowledge and wisdom. Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه   derived a solution that everyone who respects the masjid will admire and adopt. He رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه folded his quilt and performed wudu whilst sitting on it. He spent the entire night awake shivering due to the cold but not one drop of water fell on the masjid’s floor.^[1] 

Varying forms of disrespecting the masjid

Dear Islamic brothers, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan’s رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه level of respect and honour for the masjid can be understood from the incident we just discussed. He put himself in difficulty during a cold, rainy night to ensure no drops of water would fall in the masjid. It is unfortunate that many of us are unaware of the correct etiquettes for the masjid, and usually after performing wudu, people leave wet footprints on the masjid floor and drops of water continuously fall from their hands and face. Remember! For the water from the washed limbs of wudu to drop in the masjid is impermissible and a sin.^[2] Similarly, the people observing i’tikaaf during Ramadan abandon the etiquettes of the masjid by engaging in gossip, laughing loudly, eating betel leaf and spitting it into