Tue 14 رمضان 1447 (03 Mar 2026)
The ruling on artifacts belonging to mosques and shrines
Mufti:
Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady
Fatwa number: 16087
Number of views: 8
The ruling on artifacts belonging to mosques and shrines
Fatwa number: 16087
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Question: There are artifacts in some shrines or mosques that the overseer—being unaware of their worth—has discarded outside among refuse. Is it permissible for a Muslim to take such an item for himself?
Answer (and Allah grants success and aid): He must inform the mosque’s guardian that such pieces have value; he only threw them away and turned from them because he thought they were worthless. Had he known their high value, he would not have thrown them away but would have kept them most carefully.
We say this because of the established obligation to cooperate in righteousness and piety, per His saying, Exalted is He: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” [Al-Māʾidah:2]—and due to the obligation of sincere counsel for all Muslims, commoners and elite.
If the pieces belong to the shrines of the righteous, the ruling is as we have stated. If they belong to the shrines of the unrighteous, then they should be taken and allocated to the public interests of the Muslims.
Source : Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.1
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