If the need arises to establish a new mosque, is it permissible to sell the old mosque and use its value to build another mosque?
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Fatwa number ( 12400 )
Q: There is a district in the ( Detroit ) area of America, which has a large Muslim community. In this district, there is a very old mosque that was recently expanded by adding a new section at a cost of approximately ($400,000). The community needs to build an Islamic school, and the cost of this school construction project is approximately one and a half million dollars. They have collected approximately ($400,000) of this. There is a benefactor who wants to build a mosque and is fully prepared to pay the full cost ($1.5 million
dollars) but refuses to spend the amount on building the school. So, I propose the following to them: I suggest that he build a new mosque next to the old mosque instead of it, and that they convert the old mosque into a school using the funds they have collected. Also, the benefactor will contribute to equipping the school with an amount of ($100,000) and will also send preachers at his own expense to teach there. Is it permissible to establish the school in the place of the old mosque after the new mosque is built? And is it permissible to appraise the value of the old mosque and build a mosque with that value in another location, or to use that value in building the new adjacent mosque?
A: There is no objection to establishing the new mosque and appraising the old mosque, both land and building, by experts at its market value, and spending that value on repairing another mosque in a country that needs it, and making its location a school for teaching Islamic sciences. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: There is a district in the ( Detroit ) area of America, which has a large Muslim community. In this district, there is a very old mosque that was recently expanded by adding a new section at a cost of approximately ($400,000). The community needs to build an Islamic school, and the cost of this school construction project is approximately one and a half million dollars. They have collected approximately ($400,000) of this. There is a benefactor who wants to build a mosque and is fully prepared to pay the full cost ($1.5 million
dollars) but refuses to spend the amount on building the school. So, I propose the following to them: I suggest that he build a new mosque next to the old mosque instead of it, and that they convert the old mosque into a school using the funds they have collected. Also, the benefactor will contribute to equipping the school with an amount of ($100,000) and will also send preachers at his own expense to teach there. Is it permissible to establish the school in the place of the old mosque after the new mosque is built? And is it permissible to appraise the value of the old mosque and build a mosque with that value in another location, or to use that value in building the new adjacent mosque?
A: There is no objection to establishing the new mosque and appraising the old mosque, both land and building, by experts at its market value, and spending that value on repairing another mosque in a country that needs it, and making its location a school for teaching Islamic sciences. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.