What the Public Interest Requires
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Fatwa No. ( 20020 )
Praise be to Allah alone, and may prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the correspondence sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the honorable judge of the al-Sulayl court, Ibrahim ibn Abdullah al-Thumayri, with number (236 \ 2 \ 1418 \ 1) and date 27 \ 6 \ 1418 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (3826) and date 2 \ 7 \ 1418 AH. His Excellency requested the Committee to review the petition submitted by Ali ibn Mubarak ibn Badi al-Dawsari, in which he requested the transfer of the location of the mosque he previously endowed to a better location; because the old mosque is small and located in the middle of the endower’s farm and his houses. His Excellency mentioned that the Director of Endowments and Mosques wrote to him asking about the permissibility of this in the Shari'ah. The Permanent Committee has studied the correspondence and reviewed the report of the committee formed for this specific purpose, which stated the following: To the honorable judge of the al-Sulayl court, may Allah protect him, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. And after:
With reference to your referral to us with number (138 \ 1) on 5 \ 3 \ 1418 AH, regarding our inspection of the site of the mosque endowed by the citizen: Ali ibn Mubarak ibn Badi, who wishes to move it from its old location to another place. Accordingly, we have inspected the aforementioned site and we see that it should be moved to the new location indicated in the sketch of the al-Sulayl Municipality attached; because of the spaciousness of the area and parking spaces. We see that the closer the mosque’s location is to the belt, the better it is; because it serves many passersby on the road and residents of the neighborhood. This is the opinion of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and then your opinion. The Committee also reviewed the letter from the Director of Endowments, Mosques, Da'wah and Guidance, addressed to the honorable judge of the al-Sulayl court, which stated the following: I am attaching to your Excellency the documents regarding the request of the citizen: Ali ibn Mubarak ibn Badi, to vacate a mosque in the Al-Badi neighborhood, which His Royal Highness the Minister of the Interior donated for construction at his own expense, with an area of (20 × 12m). Due to the existence of a small mosque with an area of 3 × 5 m that is on the verge of collapse and whose roof is adjacent to one of the houses, and it does not meet the required purpose, and it is not possible to expand it due to the lack of sufficient space for it, and there is no title deed for it, and because the neighborhood needs
the vacating of the new site; therefore, we hope you will consider this from the Shari'ah perspective if it is permissible, and how to handle the old site in the case of approval for vacating and building?
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry, it answered: That if the situation is as described, there is no harm in moving the old mosque to the new mosque site for the public interest in transferring the endowment, since the old endowed mosque is very small, on the verge of collapse as mentioned, and almost unused; because it is in the middle of the endower’s farms, palm trees, and houses, and people are hesitant to pray in it. And because the new mosque is larger in area, on a main road, and serves the residents of the neighborhood and those passing by this road. As for the site of the old mosque after moving the mosque from it to the new mosque, it is to be appraised at the value it equals through the judge, and its value is to be spent on the construction of the new mosque. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Praise be to Allah alone, and may prayers and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the correspondence sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the honorable judge of the al-Sulayl court, Ibrahim ibn Abdullah al-Thumayri, with number (236 \ 2 \ 1418 \ 1) and date 27 \ 6 \ 1418 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (3826) and date 2 \ 7 \ 1418 AH. His Excellency requested the Committee to review the petition submitted by Ali ibn Mubarak ibn Badi al-Dawsari, in which he requested the transfer of the location of the mosque he previously endowed to a better location; because the old mosque is small and located in the middle of the endower’s farm and his houses. His Excellency mentioned that the Director of Endowments and Mosques wrote to him asking about the permissibility of this in the Shari'ah. The Permanent Committee has studied the correspondence and reviewed the report of the committee formed for this specific purpose, which stated the following: To the honorable judge of the al-Sulayl court, may Allah protect him, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. And after:
With reference to your referral to us with number (138 \ 1) on 5 \ 3 \ 1418 AH, regarding our inspection of the site of the mosque endowed by the citizen: Ali ibn Mubarak ibn Badi, who wishes to move it from its old location to another place. Accordingly, we have inspected the aforementioned site and we see that it should be moved to the new location indicated in the sketch of the al-Sulayl Municipality attached; because of the spaciousness of the area and parking spaces. We see that the closer the mosque’s location is to the belt, the better it is; because it serves many passersby on the road and residents of the neighborhood. This is the opinion of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and then your opinion. The Committee also reviewed the letter from the Director of Endowments, Mosques, Da'wah and Guidance, addressed to the honorable judge of the al-Sulayl court, which stated the following: I am attaching to your Excellency the documents regarding the request of the citizen: Ali ibn Mubarak ibn Badi, to vacate a mosque in the Al-Badi neighborhood, which His Royal Highness the Minister of the Interior donated for construction at his own expense, with an area of (20 × 12m). Due to the existence of a small mosque with an area of 3 × 5 m that is on the verge of collapse and whose roof is adjacent to one of the houses, and it does not meet the required purpose, and it is not possible to expand it due to the lack of sufficient space for it, and there is no title deed for it, and because the neighborhood needs
the vacating of the new site; therefore, we hope you will consider this from the Shari'ah perspective if it is permissible, and how to handle the old site in the case of approval for vacating and building?
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry, it answered: That if the situation is as described, there is no harm in moving the old mosque to the new mosque site for the public interest in transferring the endowment, since the old endowed mosque is very small, on the verge of collapse as mentioned, and almost unused; because it is in the middle of the endower’s farms, palm trees, and houses, and people are hesitant to pray in it. And because the new mosque is larger in area, on a main road, and serves the residents of the neighborhood and those passing by this road. As for the site of the old mosque after moving the mosque from it to the new mosque, it is to be appraised at the value it equals through the judge, and its value is to be spent on the construction of the new mosque. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.