Trees in the Mosque

Question

Is it permissible or not to plant a banyan tree or a sacred fig (which the Hindus worship and venerate, not allowing anyone to break their branches and leaves) within the enclosure of the mosque, i.e. in the mosque precincts (fina)? Or to leave a round piece of land in the form of a raised platform around a withered banyan, dig a trench five or six feet deep, and water the withered banyan so that its branches revive and grow?

Answer

If there is some benefit in this for the mosque or for the worshippers, it is correct; if there is no benefit, or there is imitation of the disbelievers, it is impermissible. This is what is derived from what is in Radd al-Muhtar (vol. 1, p. 462).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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