Editing Mosque (section)

===Ablution facilities===
[[File:Ablution area inside Eastern wall of Badshahi mosque.JPG|thumb|The ''[[wudu]]'' ("ablution") area, where Muslims wash their hands, forearm, face and feet before they pray. Example from the [[Badshahi Mosque, Lahore]], Pakistan]]

As [[Ritual purification#Islam|ritual purification]] precedes all prayers, mosques often have [[Wudu|ablution]] fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards. Worshippers at much smaller mosques often have to use restrooms to perform their ablutions. In traditional mosques, this function is often elaborated into a freestanding building in the center of a courtyard.<ref name="mit-handout">{{Cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/4.614/www/handout02.html |access-date=April 9, 2006 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |title=Religious Architecture and Islamic Cultures |archive-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720215715/http://web.mit.edu/4.614/www/handout02.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This desire for cleanliness extends to the prayer halls where shoes are disallowed to be worn anywhere other than the cloakroom. Thus, foyers with shelves to put shoes and racks to hold coats are commonplace among mosques.<ref name="unitulsa" />