The value of the imam's and the mu'adhdhin's residence is to be used to purchase a residence for them
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Praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the Honorable Supervisor of Endowments and Mosques in the Riyadh Region, bearing number (19/3316) and dated 19/2/1426 AH, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (1246) and dated 9/3/1426 AH. His Eminence asked a question, the text of which is as follows: I present to your attention a matter concerning the residence of an imam and a mu'adhdhin, whose ownership was taken for the public interest. The compensation value was received, and a two-story villa was purchased for less than half the compensation value, with one floor serving as the imam's residence and the other as the mu'adhdhin's residence. Both the imam and the mu'adhdhin wish to have a separate villa each. Is it permissible to purchase an investment property with the remaining compensation value, the income from which is spent on the mosque's needs, or is it obligatory to purchase an alternative residence for the imam and the mu'adhdhin with the full value of the compensation for the residence whose ownership was taken?
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it answered that the compensation is a substitute for the residence of the mosque's imam and the mu'adhdhin; therefore, the remaining compensation must be spent on another residence for the imam or the mu'adhdhin; because the substitute takes the place of the substituted item, and the endowment is not
permissible to be used for anything other than what it was endowed for.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it answered that the compensation is a substitute for the residence of the mosque's imam and the mu'adhdhin; therefore, the remaining compensation must be spent on another residence for the imam or the mu'adhdhin; because the substitute takes the place of the substituted item, and the endowment is not
permissible to be used for anything other than what it was endowed for.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.