Building a Toilet on a Site Belonging to the Mosque

Question

A plot of land was made waqf in the name of the mosque; it is in the form of a chamber and lies on the western and southern side of the mosque, and its door opens outward toward the road. May a toilet be built on this endowed site, which is marked as No. 26 on the plan, or not? Chamber No. 26 has no opening through which a bad smell would go into the mosque. True, above its roof there is a skylight in the wall of the mosque, but it is about one gaz (a unit of length, about a yard, ≈ 0.9 m)

Answer

Since the site is endowed for the needs (masalih) of the mosque, and the people of the mosque need a toilet there, and moreover building a toilet at this spot does not impair the sanctity of the mosque, nor does the bad smell reach the mosque, it is permissible in the Shariʿa to build a toilet at this spot.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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