Investing in some mosque facilities for advertising and promotion
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa No. ( 21510 )
Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. Then: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Da'wah and Guidance, in his letter No. (1 \ 4 \ 1134) dated 15 \ 4 \ 1421 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with No. (2458) and dated 23 \ 4 \ 1421 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is as follows: I would like to present to Your Eminence what was submitted by one of the commercial companies specializing in advertising and promotion, seeking to enable it to invest in some mosque facilities by placing advertising and promotional boards on their outer walls, and in the surplus land remaining after the construction of the mosque, in exchange for a fee to be spent on the interests of the mosques.
The matter was studied in the competent department of the Ministry, and two trends emerged: one in favor and one against, each with its justifications as follows: First: Justifications for support: 1. These lands are surplus to the mosque's needs, outside its structure, and not utilized in any of its interests in any way. These surpluses—apparently—do not carry the rulings of mosques; they are endowed lands, so it is preferable to utilize them in what brings benefit and good. 2. There are those who utilize some of these sites by placing boards there without permission, organization, or financial return to the mosques, and the proposed project is guaranteed to avoid these harms. 3. The benefit from the revenue of this investment is for the benefit of the mosques, in construction, repair, maintenance, equipment, and staffing, and allocating a known percentage after negotiation with the company for the use of these boards to broadcast da'wah and guidance messages from the Ministry. 4. The statement issued by the Permanent Ifta Committee regarding the Shari'ah guidelines for advertising included the permissibility of commercial advertising, provided it does not contain any Shari'ah prohibition and adheres to the Shari'ah guidelines mentioned in the statement. A copy of the Committee's statement is attached hereto.
5. The fatwa of the Permanent Committee with the same number ( 3842 ) included the following text: "It is possible to paste the advertisement outside the mosque door in a specific, permanent place so that people can recognize it." The question was about the courts sending notifications to the imam of the mosque regarding the disposal of some citizens' property, for the purpose of announcing it to the villagers and informing them, and that some imams read them inside the mosque after prayer, which often causes confusion and disputes. 6. The contract signed with the executing company includes precise conditions that observe the Shari'ah guidelines specified by the Permanent Ifta Committee, and guarantees the Ministry's general right to supervise, monitor, collect rights, and impose penalties. Second: Justifications for rejection: 1. The reality of advertising and promotion is full of Shari'ah violations, such as containing waste, deception, forbidden images, and inappropriate words, and so on. This reality makes it difficult to increase precautions and maintain monitoring to ensure the realization of Shari'ah guidelines in every advertisement, especially since they change continuously. 2. The crowding of mosque facades and sides with commercial boards contradicts
the purpose of building mosques, occupies the hearts of those who visit them, and affects the beauty of the mosque and its purity from the impurities of this world. 3. What is feared with the passage of time and frequent display is the expansion of the matter, the weakening of monitoring, and falling into Shari'ah prohibitions. Given the importance and sensitivity of the subject and the disagreement of opinion on it, I saw fit to write to Your Eminence, hoping you would graciously look into it and inform me of what must be followed according to the Shari'ah. May Allah reward you with good, magnify your reward, and increase you in good and success. And may Allah preserve and care for you.
[Al-Jinn 72:18]
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1321Sahih (Darussalam)
Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. Then: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Da'wah and Guidance, in his letter No. (1 \ 4 \ 1134) dated 15 \ 4 \ 1421 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with No. (2458) and dated 23 \ 4 \ 1421 AH. His Excellency asked a question, the text of which is as follows: I would like to present to Your Eminence what was submitted by one of the commercial companies specializing in advertising and promotion, seeking to enable it to invest in some mosque facilities by placing advertising and promotional boards on their outer walls, and in the surplus land remaining after the construction of the mosque, in exchange for a fee to be spent on the interests of the mosques.
The matter was studied in the competent department of the Ministry, and two trends emerged: one in favor and one against, each with its justifications as follows: First: Justifications for support: 1. These lands are surplus to the mosque's needs, outside its structure, and not utilized in any of its interests in any way. These surpluses—apparently—do not carry the rulings of mosques; they are endowed lands, so it is preferable to utilize them in what brings benefit and good. 2. There are those who utilize some of these sites by placing boards there without permission, organization, or financial return to the mosques, and the proposed project is guaranteed to avoid these harms. 3. The benefit from the revenue of this investment is for the benefit of the mosques, in construction, repair, maintenance, equipment, and staffing, and allocating a known percentage after negotiation with the company for the use of these boards to broadcast da'wah and guidance messages from the Ministry. 4. The statement issued by the Permanent Ifta Committee regarding the Shari'ah guidelines for advertising included the permissibility of commercial advertising, provided it does not contain any Shari'ah prohibition and adheres to the Shari'ah guidelines mentioned in the statement. A copy of the Committee's statement is attached hereto.
5. The fatwa of the Permanent Committee with the same number ( 3842 ) included the following text: "It is possible to paste the advertisement outside the mosque door in a specific, permanent place so that people can recognize it." The question was about the courts sending notifications to the imam of the mosque regarding the disposal of some citizens' property, for the purpose of announcing it to the villagers and informing them, and that some imams read them inside the mosque after prayer, which often causes confusion and disputes. 6. The contract signed with the executing company includes precise conditions that observe the Shari'ah guidelines specified by the Permanent Ifta Committee, and guarantees the Ministry's general right to supervise, monitor, collect rights, and impose penalties. Second: Justifications for rejection: 1. The reality of advertising and promotion is full of Shari'ah violations, such as containing waste, deception, forbidden images, and inappropriate words, and so on. This reality makes it difficult to increase precautions and maintain monitoring to ensure the realization of Shari'ah guidelines in every advertisement, especially since they change continuously. 2. The crowding of mosque facades and sides with commercial boards contradicts
the purpose of building mosques, occupies the hearts of those who visit them, and affects the beauty of the mosque and its purity from the impurities of this world. 3. What is feared with the passage of time and frequent display is the expansion of the matter, the weakening of monitoring, and falling into Shari'ah prohibitions. Given the importance and sensitivity of the subject and the disagreement of opinion on it, I saw fit to write to Your Eminence, hoping you would graciously look into it and inform me of what must be followed according to the Shari'ah. May Allah reward you with good, magnify your reward, and increase you in good and success. And may Allah preserve and care for you.
And [He revealed] that the masjids are for Allah, so do not invoke with Allah anyone.
وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ فَلا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًاWhen you see someone selling or buying in the Masjid then say: 'May Allah not profit your business.'
إذا رأيتم من يبيع أو يبتاع في المسجد فقولوا: لا أربح الله تجارتك
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.