Building bathrooms on land endowed to enlarge a Masjid

(Part No. 16; Page No. 69) Fatwa no. 19864 All praise be to Allah Alone, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, and his family and Companions.The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' reviewed the letter submitted to His Eminence the Mufty (Islamic scholar qualified to issue legal opinions) by the Head of Islamic Affairs office in Riyadh, `Abdullah ibn Muflih Al-Hamid, under Number (6/19/6883), which was referred to the Committee from the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars under Number (3177) in 30/5/1418 AH. The letter asked the Mufty to examine the request of the Imam (the one who leads congregational Prayer) of Ibn Sanad Masjid (mosque), which is located in Al-`Uwaydah Neighborhood, Al-Rayyis street, Riyadh, to turn a land endowed for expanding the Masjid into a bathroom and to expand and improve the Masjid's northern entrance. The Permanent Committee studied the request and reviewed the attached report prepared by the committee being formed for that purpose. Members of this committee were the supervisor of Masjids in Riyadh, `Abdullah ibn `Ayar Al-`Usaymy, a researcher in the Endowments Department, Khalid ibn `Aly Al-Shalil, (Part No. 16; Page No. 70) and an engineer in the Project Department, Muhammad Abu Diba`. The Committee report stated the following:All praise be to Allah Alone, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger, and his family and Companions.The Head of Islamic Affairs office sent a letter Number (4417) in 25/3/1418 AH - which stipulated forming a committee composed of an engineer in the Project Department, the supervisor of Masjids of Al-Rayyis street, and an inspector in the Endowments Department - to study the submitted request of turning a land endowed for expanding Ibn Sanad Masjid, which is located in Al-Rayyis street, into a bathroom. Accordingly, the Committee examined both the Masjid and the land and found the following:1. The Masjid indeed needs expansion or construction of new and large bathrooms.2. Most of the Masjid's attendants have different nationalities, which stresses the need for a large bathroom.3. The Masjid has an area of 260 square meters.4. The Masjid should have an entrance of not less than two meters in width to the east of the endowed land, so that it would have a spacious entrance, (Part No. 16; Page No. 71) especially that the southern entrance is narrow.5. The Masjid has a bathroom (3.20 × 3 meters), including three small toilets and four basins for Wudu' (ablution), which means that it does not satisfy the needs of its attendants.6. The committee recommends improving the northern entrance of the Masjid from the eastern side by building a wall, since this entrance is in a bad condition as it is crooked and made of clay.Accordingly, the Committee recommends turning the endowed land into a bathroom since the Masjid needs one, but there is no need for expanding the Masjid. This is the Committee's opinion and recommendation and attached is the design suggested by the Committee.

After the Permanent Committee studied the Fatwa request, it answered: If the reality is as mentioned, there is no harm in using the endowed land for expanding the northern entrance of the Masjid from the eastern side, since its current entrance is narrow and crooked. The remaining area of the land is to be turned into a bathroom to fulfill the public interest and because it is difficult to use this land in expanding the roofed Masjid for the reasons already stated in the report and by the inspector (Part No. 16; Page No. 72) `Abdul-`Aziz ibn `Utayq Al-Mawwash. The latter offered Salah (Prayer) in the Masjid and inspected the location of the endowed land, then stated that the Masjid needs no expansion since more than half the area of the roofed part is not used for Salah. In addition, the Masjid includes a shady yard of an area almost equal to the area of the roofed part. Thus, it would not be much useful to use this land in expanding the Masjid. The inspector also stated that the land would lead to disturbance in the order of rows of those offering Salah if it is joined to the roofed part of the Masjid, because it is adjacent to the roofed part only in an area that is almost equal to half its northern side from the eastern direction and is not adjacent to all the roofed part. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.