Selling the Mosque’s Bricks

Question

Zayd, in his capacity as mutawalli (trustee of the waqf), bought some bricks for building a mosque, but for certain reasons the construction of the mosque has been halted. Now Zayd, who is the mutawalli, with the people’s agreement wishes to sell the bricks lying idle, since at present they are expensive, so the mosque will benefit, because all the money will be spent on the mosque itself. The question is: is it permissible to sell the bricks of the mosque (Eidgah — open ground for the Eid prayer) or not?

Answer

Those bricks are not waqf; rather, they were bought for the mosque, and at present the mosque has no need of them. In view of the interests (masalih) of the mosque, selling them is permissible according to the Shariʿa. In al-Bahr and Shami there is an explicit specific ruling (juzʾiyya) on this.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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