The ruling on entering the Masjid for the one who eats Onions and smokes Cigarettes

Question:

What is the extent of dislike in entering the Masjid for one who eats garlic or onions, and what is the difference in the view of Islam between the smell of garlic and onions, and the smell of cigarette smoke? I ask this because people from among the smokers come to the Masjid for the prayer while they have a foul odor from cigarette smoking. Yet, they are not concerned with that. I hope to get clarification regarding the difference between the dislike of entering the Masjid for the smoker, and the one who eats garlic and onions. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:

It is confirmed from the prophet that he said:
"Whoever ate garlic or onions, then let him stay away from our place of prayer and sit in his house. For verily, the angels are bothered by that which bothers the children of Adam." (Al-Bukhari no.855 and Muslim no.564)

The hadiths concerning this are numerous. It is confirmed from the prophet that he ordered that whoever is found to have the smell of garlic or onion, then he should be put out of the Masjid. The reason for this is that the people who are offering prayer and those who are reciting (the Qur'an) and the angels are all bothered by the foul odor. Therefore, everything that has a foul odor, like cigarette smoke, is considered together (in its ruling)with garlic and onions and similar things, by preventing them (i.e., these people) from the Masjid until they use something that will remove the bad smell. Included in this is whoever has a bothersome odor coming from his armpits and other similar places. This is a generalization due to the reason specified by the messenger of Allah in this statement. May Allah help everyone to do that which he loves and is pleased with.

Source :
Shaykh `Abdul-`Azeez Bin Baz
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol.3, p.g 39,40, DARUSSALAM.