Taken from ‘al-Masijd fil-Islām: Aḥkāmuhum Ādābuhu, Bidaʿuhu’ of Khayrud-Dīn al-Wānlī (student of Shaikh al-Albānī).
13: Burning Incense (Bukhūr) in the Mosque:
Ash-Shaikh ʿAlī Mahfūḍh said in ‘al-Ibdāʾ’ (p. 289): “Ibnul-ʿArabī said: The first ones to burn incense in the mosques were Banū Barmak: Yaḥyā ibn Khālid and Muḥammad ibn Khālid…, and they were Bāṭiniyyah. So they revived Magianism [i.e. fire-worship] and burnt incense in the mosques. Whereas mosques should only be perfumed with ‘Khalūq’ which is a type of perfume.
And some of the historians say: the Barmaks made it seem alluring to ar-Rashīd to place incense-burners around the noble Kaʿbah in order to accustom the Muslims to having fires placed in their greatest place of worship, since the Magians worshipped fire; and it appears that the Barmaks were from the heads of the secret societies of the Magians which strove to undermine Islām and the rule of the Arabs, and to restore the kingship of the Magians.
However Hārūn ar-Rashīd attacked them because he became aware of their secret intentions.
So in summary, lighting fire in the mosques was not from the practice of the Salafuṣ-ṣāliḥ, and it was not something used to embellish the mosques.
But then it was newly introduced as an embellishment for the mosques — to the extent that it became one of the things done to show honour to the month of Ramaḍān. So the common folk came to accept this belief because the elite failed to criticize them for it.”
I say: Burning incense in the mosques also involves resemblance to what is done in the Christian churches; and in addition to this there is the danger of causing the burning down of the mosques if the attendant forgets and places some burning wood in places of wooden construction which will fall upon the carpet and destroy it; and it is sufficient to use perfumes to fragrance the mosque.”
Translated by Abū Ṭalḥah Dāwud Burbank
