«حَصِيرْةِ الْبِيتْ تِحْرَمْ عَ الْجَامِعْ»

The proverb sets an order of obligation: whatever one's own household depends on, even something as humble as a mat, should not be handed over, even to a mosque. Duties to family and home come first, and generosity toward others begins only once those basic needs are met.

By choosing the mosque, the most worthy of recipients, the saying makes its point forcefully without belittling mosques or charity. Its word 'forbidden' is emphatic, stressing priority rather than issuing a religious ruling. If giving even there is ruled out while the home lacks something, lesser causes have still weaker claims on what the family cannot spare.

Use it when someone is tempted to donate, lend, or give away something their own household still needs, or to defend declining a request on those grounds. It suits gentle reproof or self-justification about putting family needs before public generosity.