Thursday, 4 June 2026 (19 Dhuʻl-Hijjah 1447 AH)
Question: Our mosque needs funds for repairs. The mosque has many endowments and far more carpeting than it needs, which may spoil in storage. Some neighbors of the mosque’s endowment wish to buy from the waqf a strip of land as a passageway for many times its price. Is it permissible to sell the carpets and to sell something of the waqf, or to sell a path to some neighbors of the waqf, in order to complete the mosque’s repair and maintenance?
Answer—and Allah is the One who grants success and aid: It is permissible to sell the surplus carpeting from which the mosque has no need—especially if it is exposed to damage in storage. Indeed, in such a case, selling may even be obligatory.
As for selling land endowed to the mosque, it is not permissible—nor is it permissible to sell any portion to neighbors as a right-of-way.
Yes: If the neighbors of the waqf need a passage, they may lease from the waqf the land needed as their way for as many years as they wish—fifty or fewer or more—and a document is to be written for the guardians of the waqf to prevent the mosque’s endowment from being lost, forgotten, or denied by the tenants. It is likewise permissible for the waqf-guardian to lease waqf lands when the mosque is in need, receiving advance rentals to complete the mosque’s repair. All this returns to the guardian’s judgment; he must seek the mosque’s best interest. Allah Most High has said regarding orphans’ guardians: “Say: Improvement for them is best; and if you mix with them, they are your brothers. And Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer.” [Al-Baqarah:220].
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2