A case of expanding a mosque

Question

In Kashmir there is a small town called Topiyan (?); in this town there has always been a flourishing congregational (jami‘) mosque of the Muslims. With the passage of time this mosque had become very dilapidated, and at the Jumu‘a prayers of blessed Ramadan it was insufficient for the worshippers: the Muslims of the whole area could not fit into it. So the local people decided to rebuild this mosque with enlargement.

Answer

If this alteration was made on the advice of the waqif, or the founder, or the majority of the people of authority (ahl al-hall wa-l-‘aqd), and it does not cause the mosque’s status as a mosque (masjidiyya) or any other interest to be lost, then there is no harm in it: in case of need, such an alteration is permissible in the Shari‘a and a cause of recompense and reward.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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