The Ruling on Heirs Being Bound by Their Father’s Bequest

Question:
My father said to me and my brothers while we were sitting with him: We have a piece of land next to the house. If Allah wills, build a mosque on this piece of land. Some time has passed since he said this, until Allah made it easy for me financially. While I was carrying out my father’s bequest and building the mosque, some people told me that there are many mosques in the town, and that I could donate the amount to the religious institute that is to be established in the town. Is the mosque more deserving, or is the institute more deserving? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
Look into the matter. If the place is in need of a mosque, consult with the people of the locality, the residents, and look into the area’s need for a mosque, or seek the help of the court, so that the matter is examined. If the area needs a mosque, then build the mosque on the land your father designated.
However, if the area is not in need, then you sell this land and build a mosque in another place. The intent of your father is building a mosque. If the area is in no need of this land and this mosque, then the land is sold, and its price is spent on another piece of land in a place that needs a mosque. You build it there, and you fulfill the bequest, the bequest of your father and his land. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. So, you do not consider the institute?

The Shaykh: No, no, no. A mosque is a mosque. What he bequeathed for a mosque is to be for a mosque. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you, and may Allah reward you with good.