Burying the Dead in an Abandoned Mosque

Question

In a mosque the people of the neighbourhood prayed for several years, while the original mosque, which had been built earlier, is another one besides it. This new mosque was built only by the owners of a few houses in order to pray in it occasionally; in fact, their old mosque is also that same original mosque built earlier.

Answer

If the mosque is at present deserted, that is, prayer is not performed in it, this nevertheless does not affect its status as a mosque: its mosque status will remain forever. Therefore burying the dead in it is impermissible, because this is contrary to the purpose of the builder and the waqif (endower) and to the sanctity of the mosque.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.