Establishing a Madrasa on Vacant Land Adjoining the Mosque

Question

(1) At the Congregational Mosque of Jaunpur, built by the Sharqi sultans, after the bounds of the mosque had been determined they were marked out with a paved floor, and adjoining it a basin of ten by ten cubits was built for the worshippers’ ablution; the scholars and shaykhs have continued to act upon this. (2) Apart from the mosque area, from the basin up to the eastern gate, together with the north and south sides, there lies vacant unpaved land.

Answer

Around mosques in general, and beside large mosques in particular, it was a common practice to leave vacant space adjoining the mosque floor to the north, south and east, and sometimes to the west, so that in time of need elementary religious schools and madrasas could be set up there and teaching could go on, and also so that a khanqah (a Sufi lodge)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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