A Library in the Mosque and Running a Library from the Mosque’s Income

Question

Here a library has been set up in one room of the mosque, in which there is a collection of religious books, and some political newspapers — Tajalli, Nasheman (“The Nest”), and the like — are also read; and one employee has been appointed. The question is this: the price of the newspapers is paid from the mosque’s money, and the employee’s salary is also paid from the mosque’s money. Is it permissible to meet these library expenses from the mosque’s money or not?

Answer

Setting up any library, ordering magazines and newspapers, and paying the salary of a library employee from land, property or shops made waqf for the mosque, or from donations collected in the name of the mosque, is not valid according to the Shariʿa.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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