Cutting Down Trees by the Mosque Courtyard and Building a Veranda for Rent

Question

On the eastern side of the mosque there were trees; they were cleared and the area was added to the mosque’s courtyard. On this, my brother and I are of the opinion that a veranda should be built inside the mosque with a room above it; that the mosque shop should be built now (?) over the latrine and in front of the main gate; and that a tenant — a family man who performs the prayer — should be settled there.

Answer

If the place where the trees stood was outside the mosque, then merely by having the trees cut down and a raised platform built level with the mosque, that place did not become a mosque. However, if a roof is laid over it and some room, a latrine and the like are built there in such a way that its passage and door remain towards the outside and bad smells and the like do not…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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