Where the Mosque’s Surplus Money Is to Be Spent

Question

Hundreds of thousands of rupees of interest-free money of mosques are deposited in a bank, on which interest keeps accruing willy-nilly, and the government takes loans from it. Since this interest-free money of these mosques exceeds both the present needs of these mosques and their expected future needs, may part of this money be used for the construction and repair of financially very weak, needy mosques, or be given towards the salaries of muezzins and imams, or for helping elementary religious schools and…

Answer

The money of each mosque is primarily (asalatan) to be spent on that same mosque. If there is no need in that mosque and no need is expected in the future either, or safeguarding the money is difficult and there is a fear of it being lost, then it is correct to spend it on the nearest mosque, and after that on a more distant mosque, according to need and the interests of the…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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