Taking Back a Donation Given for a Mosque

Question

(1) In connection with the construction of the mosque, many people gave donations and helped. Permission to build the mosque was obtained from the leading people of every neighbourhood, and they said: “Say bismillah and begin the work.” Then some disagreement arose, because of which those people — their donation that they had given for this very mosque (?) — and many materials for the construction of the mosque had already been bought.

Answer

(1) Since these donations of everyone are mixed and materials have already been bought with them, there is now no right to take them back, nor does the mutawalli have the right to return them. (2) The ruling on these donations is also like No. 2. In the qibla of such a mosque, prayer is not impaired by so slight a deviation.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.