The Ruling on a Mosque after It Has Been Abandoned

Question

There was a mosque in a certain place; for some reasons of benefit (maslaha) this mosque was removed from there and built in another place. Will the land of the first mosque remain forever under the ruling of waqf, or will buying and selling it be permissible? Please write in detail.

Answer

If it is a proper mosque in the Sharʿi sense, then it is waqf for ever and ever; selling its land or giving it on loan for use (ʿariya) is impermissible. [ar]فَإِذَا تَمَّ وَلَزِمَ لَا يُمْلَكُ وَلَا يُمَلَّكُ وَلَا يُعَارُ وَلَا يُرْهَنُ[/ar] “Once it is complete and binding, it is not owned, not transferred into ownership, not lent and not pledged” (al-Durr al-Mukhtar on the…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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