Turning an old mosque into a madrasa

Question

Question: The mosque of our village is situated on the edge of the village, and it has become dilapidated. Therefore the people whose opinion counts have now agreed that a madrasa should be run in the old mosque, that a new mosque should be built in the middle of the village, and that the madrasa should run under the management of the mosque itself. What is the ruling on making the old mosque into a madrasa — is there any leeway for it in the Shari‘a or not?

Answer

A place that has once become a mosque according to the Shari‘a, and in which the congregational prayer has begun to be held, may not afterwards, by stopping the congregational prayer there, be assigned and designated for a madrasa or any other purpose, [ar]لأن شرط الواقف كنص الشارع[/ar] “because the stipulation of the waqif is like the text of the Lawgiver.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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