Demolishing Mosques to Establish Parks
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The questioner:
Is it permissible to expropriate mosques and demolish them, and establish a park and children's playgrounds in their place? If the answer is the opposite, why does the Riyadh Municipality intend to demolish the mosque in the Ghamiqah district and establish a park and playgrounds in its place? For information, this news was published in the Riyadh newspaper, issue number 5753, dated such-and-such. What is the position of Your Eminence the Shaykh in this matter?
The Shaykh:
We look at the matter. It is not permissible to demolish mosques except for the benefit of the people. Mosques are not demolished for the sake of parks. If there is a need for the mosque, if there is a need for the mosque, it remains. But if the mosque is not needed, by building a wider mosque that is more beneficial for the neighborhood, then there is no harm in demolishing it at that time. If the state or the Muslims build a better mosque because it is narrow, or because it is made of mud, or because it is outside, and they demolish it and build something better in the neighborhood, or something more beneficial for this neighborhood, then at that time it is demolished. But that it be demolished for this park is not permissible, neither the park nor anything other than the park. Also, look at the opening of parks; they have become places of indecency now, with women displaying their adornment.
In any case, there is much evil in them. We ask Allah that it be evil. It requires great care. Do you follow me, Shaykh? From the committees, and to the necks of the notables, it requires jihad for these parks, and there is no escape from it, but it requires jihad. We ask Allah to guide the callers to Allah and the people of the committee, the men of the committee, and the notables of the Muslims. We ask Allah to guide them to cooperate so that they may rectify what is corrupt in them.
Is it permissible to expropriate mosques and demolish them, and establish a park and children's playgrounds in their place? If the answer is the opposite, why does the Riyadh Municipality intend to demolish the mosque in the Ghamiqah district and establish a park and playgrounds in its place? For information, this news was published in the Riyadh newspaper, issue number 5753, dated such-and-such. What is the position of Your Eminence the Shaykh in this matter?
The Shaykh:
We look at the matter. It is not permissible to demolish mosques except for the benefit of the people. Mosques are not demolished for the sake of parks. If there is a need for the mosque, if there is a need for the mosque, it remains. But if the mosque is not needed, by building a wider mosque that is more beneficial for the neighborhood, then there is no harm in demolishing it at that time. If the state or the Muslims build a better mosque because it is narrow, or because it is made of mud, or because it is outside, and they demolish it and build something better in the neighborhood, or something more beneficial for this neighborhood, then at that time it is demolished. But that it be demolished for this park is not permissible, neither the park nor anything other than the park. Also, look at the opening of parks; they have become places of indecency now, with women displaying their adornment.
In any case, there is much evil in them. We ask Allah that it be evil. It requires great care. Do you follow me, Shaykh? From the committees, and to the necks of the notables, it requires jihad for these parks, and there is no escape from it, but it requires jihad. We ask Allah to guide the callers to Allah and the people of the committee, the men of the committee, and the notables of the Muslims. We ask Allah to guide them to cooperate so that they may rectify what is corrupt in them.
Source
ندوات الجامع الكبير مع الأسئلة - 46 — archive.org (1:28:36)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.