Etiquette of Gatherings (Majlis) in the Quran & Sunnah

1. When you are told to make room in a gathering, make room — Allah will make room for you.

Allah says:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا۟ فِى ٱلْمَجَـٰلِسِ فَٱفْسَحُوا۟ يَفْسَحِ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِذَا قِيلَ ٱنشُزُوا۟ فَٱنشُزُوا۟ يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَـٰتٍ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

O you who believe, when it is said to you, “Make room (for others) in the sittings”, then make room, and Allah will make room for you (in the Hereafter). And when it is said, “Rise up”, then rise up, and Allah will raise those, in ranks, who have believed and are given knowledge. Allah is well-aware of what you do. (Surah al-Mujadilah 58:11)

Lesson: The verse joins the two manners of the majlis: expand for the newcomer, and rise when asked — Allah returns the favour in kind.

2. Leave a gathering where Allah’s signs are being mocked.

Allah says:

وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ ءَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ يُكْفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا۟ مَعَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا۟ فِى حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ جَامِعُ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ وَٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا

and He has revealed to you in the Book that when you hear the verses of Allah being disbelieved and ridiculed, you should not sit with them unless they enter into some other discourse. You, in that case, would be like them. Surely, Allah is to gather all hypocrites and disbelievers in Jahannam . (Surah an-Nisa 4:140)

Lesson: Sitting silently while the religion is ridiculed makes a person “like them”; the etiquette is to withdraw until the talk turns to something else.

3. No mockery, no insults and no offensive nicknames among you.

Allah says:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونُوا۟ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَآءٌ مِّن نِّسَآءٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا۟ بِٱلْأَلْقَـٰبِ ۖ بِئْسَ ٱلِٱسْمُ ٱلْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ ٱلْإِيمَـٰنِ ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ

O you who believe, no men should ever scoff at other men. May be, the latter are better than the former. Nor should women (ever scoff) at other women. May be, the latter women are better than the former ones. And do not find fault with one another, nor call one another with bad nicknames. Bad is the name of sinfulness after embracing Faith. If anyone does not repent, then such people are the wrongdoers. (Surah al-Hujurat 49:11)

Lesson: The gathering is ruined by ridicule; Allah forbids a people mocking another people, defaming one another, and calling each other by hateful names.

1. Make room for the one who comes — and never make a man stand up so you can take his seat.

The Prophet ﷺ forbade that a man should make another man rise from his place and then sit in it; rather, he said, expand and make room for one another.

2. Do not squeeze between two people sitting together without their permission.

“It is not lawful for a man to separate between two (people) except with their permission.”

3. Do not push into the middle of a circle — sit at its edge where there is space.

The Prophet ﷺ counted among the blameworthy acts that a man should take his seat in the middle of a sitting circle.

4. Do not listen in on talk that people are keeping to themselves.

The Prophet ﷺ warned that whoever listens to the conversation of people who dislike it — or who move away from him so he cannot hear — will have molten lead poured into his ears on the Day of Resurrection. Private talk in a gathering is a trust, not public property.

5. Treat what is shared in a gathering as a trust.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “When a man tells something and then turns away, it is a trust.” What you hear in a majlis is not yours to broadcast.

6. Fill the gathering with the remembrance of Allah.

No people sit in a gathering in which they do not remember Allah and do not send blessings on their Prophet, except that it will be a cause of regret for them on the Day of Resurrection — even if they enter Paradise, for the reward they missed.

7. The best of gatherings is the most spacious.

Roominess is a blessing in a majlis: the Prophet ﷺ said, “The best of sittings is the most spacious of them.”

8. Do not sit with part of you in the sun and part in the shade.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade sitting between the sun and the shade — sit fully in one or the other.

9. When there are three of you, two must not whisper together and leave out the third.

“When you are three, let not two converse secretly to the exclusion of the other, until you mix with more people — because that saddens him.”

10. Let the elder begin — in sitting and in speaking.

When the younger man began to speak in the presence of his elders, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Kabbir, kabbir” — let the eldest speak first. Honouring age is the order of the gathering.

11. Before you rise, seal the gathering with its expiation.

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ

Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, ashhadu an la ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk — Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise; I bear witness that there is no god but You; I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance. Whoever says this in a gathering of idle talk, whatever happened in that gathering is forgiven for him.

12. Do not take the seat of a man who has risen from his place.

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ, and another man rose from his place for him; when the newcomer went to sit in it, the Prophet ﷺ forbade him. The place of one who has risen — and may return — remains his.

13. In company, speak good — or keep silent.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or keep quiet.” Most of the harm of gatherings is born on the tongue; silence is the cheaper adab.