What is the ruling on disposing of money designated for building a mosque, if it is spent on other charitable causes?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. A man contributed a sum of money to help build a mosque, but the construction was delayed. I lent the amount to a needy man with the intention that the reward would be for the donor, until the mosque is completed. Is this action valid? And if the mosque is not completed, is it permissible to spend the amount on other works, such as paving a road or building a mosque, with the intention that the reward be for the donor?
Answer:
It is obligatory for you to preserve this money and spend it on the project for which its owner designated it, and not to dispose of it, whether by lending it or otherwise.
So if the mosque is built, you pay this amount into it as its owner instructed you. If it is not built, whether its construction is suspended or abandoned, you must go back to the owner of the money and inform him of this. If he gives you permission to spend it on other projects, there is no harm. But if he does not order you to do so, you preserve it and return it to its owner, saying to him: The project you ordered me to put it into was not completed, so what is your opinion regarding this money? Yes.
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. A man contributed a sum of money to help build a mosque, but the construction was delayed. I lent the amount to a needy man with the intention that the reward would be for the donor, until the mosque is completed. Is this action valid? And if the mosque is not completed, is it permissible to spend the amount on other works, such as paving a road or building a mosque, with the intention that the reward be for the donor?
Answer:
It is obligatory for you to preserve this money and spend it on the project for which its owner designated it, and not to dispose of it, whether by lending it or otherwise.
So if the mosque is built, you pay this amount into it as its owner instructed you. If it is not built, whether its construction is suspended or abandoned, you must go back to the owner of the money and inform him of this. If he gives you permission to spend it on other projects, there is no harm. But if he does not order you to do so, you preserve it and return it to its owner, saying to him: The project you ordered me to put it into was not completed, so what is your opinion regarding this money? Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم التصرف في مال خصص لبناء مسجد فصرف في وجوه بر أخرى – الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.