Giving Compensation for Destroyed Property to the Mosque

Question

In a village, children of other communities burned the fodder (which animals and the like eat) of a man of another community in his forest. That man demanded some rupees from their parents, i.e. from the boys’ parents, by way of a fine or compensation, and they gave him the money. The man who took the rupees says that with this money something for lighting should be bought and given to the mosque. So what is the ruling on putting this thing of his into use in the mosque, and on his taking the money in this manner?

Answer

He has the right to recover the value of whatever damage was done; then, whether he uses that value for his own purposes or gives it for the mosque’s lighting, it is correct. This holds when the damage was done to a thing that he owned.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.