Liability for Demolishing a Mosque

Question

The respected Nur Bakhsh, Mashiyyatullah, Muhammad Ahmad, Abd al-Rahman and the respected Rahim al-Din, sons, some of the master builders of the village of Dhanaura Tikri, District Meerut, built a mud mosque on their share of land. Having built the mosque, they began to perform the adhan and congregational prayer in it.

Answer

(1) Whoever wasted any amount of the mosque’s money by pulling it down is liable to compensate it (daman): it should be recovered from him, or he should be made to build in its place. Forcibly seizing and disposing of another person’s house without the owner’s consent and permission is oppression and usurpation (ghasb), and it is by no means permissible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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