← Martyn's Law for mosques Free guide · Updated October 2026

Martyn's Law: a practical guide for mosques

For committees, imams, caretakers and volunteers. It covers what the law asks, written for how a mosque actually runs: Jummah, Ramadan and Eid, the women's hall, the madrasah, and a rota that changes every prayer. It's free to use, print and share.

In this guide

1. Does it apply to your mosque?
2. Who's responsible
3. Telling the SIA
4. The four procedures, for a mosque
5. Briefing imams, staff and volunteers
6. Ramadan, Eid and Jummah
7. The madrasah and children
8. When the hall is hired out
9. Practising and reviewing
10. What to keep on record
11. Security funding and reporting concerns

Prefer a list to tick off? The printable checklists follow the same order.

Download this guide as a PDFDownload the checklists

1. Does it apply to your mosque?

The test is the busiest occasion you can reasonably expect from time to time, with everyone in the building at once counted: worshippers, imams, staff and volunteers. It isn't your usual Jummah, and it isn't the fire capacity on the certificate, though that's a useful sense check.

Think through your year and write down a realistic number for each of these:

Occasion	Why it matters	Example
Normal Jummah	The weekly peak for most mosques	170
Taraweeh in Ramadan	Nightly, often busier at the weekend	190
Last ten nights, especially the 27th	Often the busiest night of the year	260
Eid prayer (busiest session)	Count the biggest single jama'ah, not the day's total	320
A large janazah	Unpredictable, but it happens	250

Example numbers only. Add volunteers and staff to every figure.

If any of these reasonably reaches 200, the mosque is in scope. In the example above, a mosque that never passes 200 on a Friday is still in scope because of Eid and the last ten nights. If you hold Eid prayers somewhere else, such as a park, sports hall or community centre, the "always standard tier" rule doesn't travel with you. Agree with whoever runs that venue who's responsible on the day.

2. Who's responsible

The law puts the duty on whoever has control of the premises. For most mosques that's the management committee or the board of trustees, not the imam personally and not an individual worshipper who helps out.

• Record a committee decision that names who is responsible, and one person who leads the work day to day.
• Pick a lead who's likely to stay on the committee, and add a handover step to your AGM so it doesn't vanish when the committee changes.
• If the building is owned by one body and run by another, work out which one actually controls it, and write that down.

3. Telling the SIA

The responsible person has to notify the Security Industry Authority when they become responsible for a premises in scope, and again when they stop. The Government hasn't yet set out exactly how and by when, so for now:

• Note who will make the notification once the process opens.
• Keep an eye on the SIA's Martyn's Law guidance.
• When you've notified, keep the date and any reference with your records.

4. The four procedures, for a mosque

The law asks you to have procedures for four situations. They don't have to be written down, but the guidance recommends it, and it's the only way a new volunteer can learn them. Start from the free ProtectUK guidance and adapt it to your building. One or two pages for each is plenty.

Keep each procedure dated, with a version number, so you can show what was in place on any day.

5. Briefing imams, staff and volunteers

The duty is that the people there know what to do. That's awareness, not a qualification. Brief anyone who might be on duty:

• imams and anyone who leads prayer or makes announcements
• caretakers and whoever opens and locks up
• Jummah, taraweeh and Eid stewards, including in the women's section
• madrasah teachers and helpers
• kitchen and event volunteers

A short briefing works better than a long one. This takes about ten minutes, after Isha or before a shift:

1. Where the exits and gathering points are, and why shoes stay where they are.
2. Which room we use if we need to bring people in, and how we get there.
3. Which doors lock, and who has the keys today.
4. The announcement we'd make, and who makes it.
5. Who calls 999, and the address and postcode to give.
6. How you'd spot something suspicious, and that it's always fine to report it.

Brief people in the language they're most comfortable with. Write down who was briefed, when, and on which version of the procedures. The free ACT Awareness e-learning and SCaN courses are good for regular volunteers. They're recommended, not legally required.

6. Ramadan, Eid and Jummah

Your busiest days are when the procedures matter most and the regular team is most stretched. Before Ramadan each year:

• Brief everyone on the Ramadan and Eid rota, including people who only help once a year.
• Agree how many people each space holds, and what you'll do when the hall is full: an overflow room, an extra jama'ah, or directing people elsewhere.
• For several Eid sessions, leave enough time between them to clear the hall and the exits before the next group comes in.
• Plan the car park and street: where people queue, and how you keep exits and roads clear.
• Put a named steward on each entrance, including the women's entrance.

For Jummah, a two-minute check before the khutbah is enough: exits clear, shoes out of the way, stewards in place, the microphone working. It's on the checklist.

7. The madrasah and children

Evening and weekend classes bring children into the building, often with a few adults responsible for many of them.

• Keep a register for every class, so you know who's in the building if you evacuate.
• Agree where each class goes in an evacuation, and where parents collect children afterwards.
• Brief every teacher and helper, and practise with the children in a calm, age-appropriate way.
• Make sure the lockdown plan covers classrooms, not just the main hall.

This sits alongside your safeguarding policies, not instead of them.

8. When the hall is hired out

For nikahs, walimas, aqiqahs, funerals and community events, the committee stays the responsible person, even if a family or organiser is running the event. The statutory guidance says a hire agreement can require the hirer to follow your procedures. A clause like this works:

Brief the named person before the event, and keep a note that you did.

9. Practising and reviewing

Practice isn't legally required at standard tier, but it's how you find the problems: the door that sticks, the announcement nobody heard in the women's hall.

• Talk through a scenario with the committee and regular volunteers a couple of times a year. Counter Terrorism Policing's free ACT in a BOX exercises are made for this.
• Review the procedures at least once a year, and whenever something changes: building work, a new extension, a new entrance, a change of committee.
• When procedures change, re-brief the people on duty.

10. What to keep on record

If the SIA ever asks, you'll want to show what's in place. Keep these together, on paper or online:

• Your busiest-occasion numbers and how you worked them out.
• The committee decision naming who's responsible.
• The date you notified the SIA.
• The four procedures, dated and versioned.
• A briefing record: name, role, date, and which version they were briefed on.
• Notes of any practice sessions and reviews, and what you changed.
• Hire agreements with the briefing note for each event.

The briefing record sheet in the checklists is a simple way to start.

11. Security funding and reporting concerns

Separately from Martyn's Law, the Home Office's Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides security measures free of charge to mosques, and to Muslim community centres where regular worship takes place, if they're a registered charity or exempt from registering. After a site survey, approved measures can include CCTV, alarms, fencing or security guards. Martyn's Law doesn't require any of these at standard tier, but the scheme is there if your committee wants them.

Where to get help

• ProtectUK's Martyn's Law resources, free templates and guidance from Counter Terrorism Policing.
• The Home Office statutory guidance, the official reference.
• Our printable checklists for mosques and the general 8-step roadmap.

Free from musterlog.co.uk/mosque-guide · Updated October 2026 · Not legal advice