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Is it permissible to sell a plot of land that was donated as an endowment (waqf) in order to contribute its price to the finishing of another nearby mosque?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible to sell a mosque's land if its completion is impossible, provided that Muslims are in greater need of the land than of the mosque, and its price is used to complete the mosque's construction. This is the view held by the verified scholars regarding the sale and exchange of endowment (waqf) for the common good. They cite as evidence that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, replaced the old Kufa mosque. Additionally, Ahmad ibn Hanbal permitted selling a mosque from which no benefit could be derived, to build another mosque in a different village. However, if the mosque's construction is not impossible to complete, then selling the land for that purpose is not permissible. The better option is to sell it and use its price to establish another mosque.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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