Mosque Etiquette for First-time Visitors

You will be welcomed if you respect the prayer, the space and the people inside, and you can prepare for that in a few minutes before you step through the door. A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims that can be a covered building or any place where Islamic prayers are performed, such as an outdoor courtyard.

What counts as a mosque when you visit?

When you enter, you come into a room arranged for prayer. Congregants pray in rows parallel to the qibla wall and arrange themselves so that they face Mecca, and in a properly oriented mosque that wall stands perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca where the Kaaba is located. At its center you will often see the mihrab, a niche or depression indicating the direction of Mecca, where the imam or mullah leads the five daily prayers regularly.

To the right of the mihrab stands a raised minbar, the pulpit from which the khatib or another speaker delivers the khutbah during Friday prayers. The prayer hall, also called a musalla, rarely has furniture because chairs and pews are generally absent so as many worshippers as possible can line the room. If you keep this layout in mind, you will understand why visitors are asked to keep the central floor clear, to avoid the niche, and to leave the front row and the pulpit area for those who lead and give the sermon.

Why do shoes stay outside the prayer hall?

Shoes must not be worn inside the carpeted prayer hall, and some mosques extend that rule to other parts of the facility even if those areas are not devoted to prayer. Foyers with shelves for shoes and racks for coats are commonplace, so you can plan to slip your shoes off, place them on a shelf, and walk in socks or bare feet on the carpet. This rule is tied to cleanliness, which is an essential part of the worship experience, and to ritual purification that precedes all prayers through the ablution known as wudu.

Many mosques have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in entryways or courtyards, while worshippers in much smaller mosques often use restrooms to perform ablutions. In traditional mosques this function is sometimes served by a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard. You do not need to use these facilities unless you pray, but you should avoid blocking them, avoid splashing water near them, and keep your belongings away from the washing area so worshippers can move through with dry feet and clean clothes.

How should you dress for the prayer hall?

Islam requires clothes that reflect modesty, and that expectation applies to you as a visitor inside the hall. Men are expected to wear loose and clean clothes that do not reveal the shape of the body. Women are advised to wear loose clothing that covers to the wrists and ankles and to cover the head with a hijab or other covering. Many Muslims, regardless of ethnic background, wear Middle Eastern clothing associated with Arabic Islam for special occasions and prayers, but you are not expected to imitate that style of dress as long as your own clothes are loose, clean and covering.

You can check the mosque access guide for practical notes on arrival, then choose long trousers or a long skirt and sleeves that reach the wrists. In larger mosques that are also tourist attractions, such as the Masjid Negara in Malaysia, robes and headscarves are provided for visitors who are considered inappropriately dressed, and a similar loan system exists in other large tourist mosques. If you arrive without a head covering, ask quietly at the entrance what is available rather than entering the hall uncovered.

Where should you stand and sit during prayer?

As mosques are places of worship, those within the mosque are required to be respectful of those in prayer, and loud talking where people are praying is forbidden, as is discussion of topics deemed disrespectful. It is disrespectful to walk in front of or otherwise disturb Muslims in prayer, so you should stay behind or to the side of worshippers, keep your voice low, switch your phone to silent, and wait until the worshippers in the row have finished before you cross the hall. The walls have few items except possibly Islamic calligraphy, so Muslims in prayer are not distracted, and even the carpeted prayer area often has no designs because plainness helps worshippers focus.

The place of worship for Muslims is described with its mihrab, minbar, courtyard and rules of conduct, and that background helps you read the room when you arrive. Muslims are discouraged from wearing clothing with distracting images and symbols so as not to divert the attention of those standing behind them, and the same care applies to you. Choose plain clothes without large prints, avoid strong perfume, and do not come after eating something strong-smelling, such as garlic, which is considered undesirable before entering the mosque.

Can you take photos inside?

You should treat photography as a secondary matter and prayer as the main activity in the room. In modern Turkey, non-Muslim tourists are allowed to enter any mosque, but visits are allowed only between prayers, visitors are required to wear long trousers and not wear shoes, women must cover their heads, visitors must not interrupt praying Muslims especially by taking photos of them, talking loudly is not allowed, and no references to other religions are allowed. That example does not set the rule for every country, but it shows the conduct expected almost everywhere: visit between prayers, remain quiet, use no flash, and avoid close views of faces.

If you want a photo of the architecture, stand near the entrance or the back, keep the camera low, and stop as soon as the call to prayer or the iqamah begins. The iqamah, similar to the adhan and announced right before the commencement of prayers, is usually not proclaimed from the minaret even if the mosque has one, so you may hear it inside from close by. When worship starts, put the camera away, sit still, and avoid moving through rows to find a better angle.

How do men and women share the hall?

To varying degrees, mosque buildings are designed so that there are segregated spaces for men and women, and this basic pattern has taken different forms depending on region, period and denomination. By traditional rules women are most often told to occupy the rows behind the men, in part as a practical matter because the traditional posture for prayer of kneeling on the floor and head to the ground made mixed-gender prayer uncomfortable and distracting for some. Muhammad told Muslims not to forbid women from entering mosques, and they are allowed to go in, so you should expect women to be present and to pray as full participants.

In practice you will see several layouts. Many mosques today place women behind a barrier or partition or place them in another room, and mosques in South and Southeast Asia put men and women in separate rooms because the divisions were built into them centuries ago. In nearly two-thirds of American mosques women pray behind partitions or in separate areas rather than in the main prayer hall. In a number of mosques, the women's section is located above the main prayer hall as a gallery separated by stairs, with a perforated fence at the front through which the main hall can be partly seen. Follow signs, use the assigned entrance, and do not move a curtain or screen to talk across it.

What if you are not Muslim?

Under most interpretations of sharia, non-Muslims are permitted to enter mosques provided that they respect the place and the people inside, while a minority view presented by followers of the Maliki school argues that non-Muslims may not be allowed under any circumstances. For mosques in other areas it is most commonly accepted that non-Muslims may enter only if granted permission by Muslims and if they have a legitimate reason, and all entrants regardless of religious affiliation are expected to respect the rules and decorum for mosques. The Quran addresses polytheists in two verses of its ninth chapter, Sura At-Tawba, and present-day practice draws a clear line in Saudi Arabia, where the Grand Mosque and all of Mecca are open only to Muslims and Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi and the city of Medina around it are also off-limits to those who do not practice Islam.

Elsewhere, the door is often open. Most mosques in the United States report receiving non-Muslim visitors every month, and many welcome non-Muslims as a sign of openness to the community. With few exceptions, mosques in the Arabian Peninsula as well as Morocco do not allow entry to non-Muslims, and the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is one of only two mosques in Morocco currently open to non-Muslims. The architectural details of the building can help you appreciate domes, courtyard fountains and calligraphy once you are inside, but permission comes first: greet the person at the door, state that you wish to look quietly, ask when to come between prayers, and accept it if the answer is to wait or to return another day.

The Wikipedia page on the mosque presents it as a masjid, a site of prostration, and traces early open spaces, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina with its courtyard and palm-trunk columns, later hypostyle halls, four-iwan courtyards, central domes and regional forms from China to West Africa. It details the mihrab, minbar, minaret, sahn courtyard with water for wudu, and rules on cleanliness, dress, concentration and gender separation. You can open that overview before your trip, note the sections on prayer hall conduct and non-Muslim entry, and bring loose clothes, socks, and a head covering so you can enter, observe quietly, and ask staff where to stand.