Registration in someone’s name does not affect a waqf; giving a mosque shop in payment of a debt

Question

Question: The members (of the committee) of a mosque collected donations for the income of the mosque, in connection with the construction of houses; but this work has not yet begun and the donations are being kept. The said mosque is not a waqf; it is registered in the names of certain people. One of those people went bankrupt owing to certain business matters. The difficulty that arose is that the court’s decision is that (the debt) is to be taken from the mosque’s shop.

Answer

If someone built a mosque, set apart its access way, and gave the general public permission in it, then merely its being in someone’s name will make no difference to its being a waqf; the mosque will be counted as a waqf. The mosque’s shop cannot be given in payment of a debt; it should be released (recovered).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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