Ruling on building a mosque or addition to a mosque with haraam wealth

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Haraam
wealth is either haraam in and of itself, or it is haraam because of the
manner in which it was acquired.

If the
wealth is haraam in and of itself, such as extorted and stolen wealth, this
it is not permissible for anyone of make use of it if he knows that it was
stolen from so and so, rather it must be returned to its owner.

The way in
which to repent from extorting this money is to return it to its owner. It
is not sufficient for the robber to donate it for building a mosque when he
is able to return it to its owner.

But if he is
not able to return it to its owner (such as money that has been stolen by
some oppressive governments from the people), then there is nothing wrong
with spending it on the public interests of the Muslims, which includes
building mosques.

Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Siyaasah
al-Shar’iyyah (p. 35):

If the
wealth was taken unlawfully and he is unable to return it to its owners,
like much of the government wealth (which has been stolen by the ruler),
then helping to spend this wealth in things that serve the interests of the
Muslims, such as guarding the borders, covering the expenses of the troops
and so on is a kind of helping in righteousness and piety, because what the
ruler should do with this money – if he cannot find its owners and return it
to them or to their heirs – is to spend it on the interests of the Muslims,
as well as repenting if he is the one who did wrong. This is the view of the
majority of scholars such as Maalik, Abu Haneefah, and Ahmad. It was also
narrated from more than one of the Sahaabah and this is what is indicated by
the shar’i evidence.

Even if
someone else took it unlawfully, then he must still do that with it. End
quote.

As for
wealth that is haraam because of the way in which it was acquired, this is
wealth which a person earned in a haraam way, such as selling alcohol and
dealing in riba, or payments for singing and prostitution and so on. This
wealth is haraam only for the one who acquired it. If someone else takes it
from him in a permissible manner, there is no sin in that, such as if he
were to donate it to build a mosque, or to give it as wages to a worker who
did a job for him, or he spends it on his wife or children – it is not
haraam for them to benefit from it, rather it is haraam only for the one who
acquired it in a haraam manner.

The way to
repent from acquiring haraam wealth is to get rid of it, and to spend it on
charitable causes, which include building mosques.

Al-Nawawi
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’ (9/330):

Al-Ghazaali
said: If he has any haraam wealth and he wants to repent and get rid of it –
if it has a particular owner then he must give it to him or to his
representative. If he is dead then he must give it to his heir. If it
belongs to someone who he does not know and he has no hope of finding him,
then he should spend it on the public interests of the Muslims, such as
bridges, border posts and mosques, and other things which the Muslims share.
Otherwise he may give it in charity to poor people. This is what al-Ghazaali
said and what others of our companions mentioned, and it is as they said,
because it is not permissible to destroy this wealth or throw it into the
sea. There is no other option but to spend it on the Muslims’ interests. And
Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows best.

Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about the ruling on
praying in a mosque that was built with haraam money. He replied:

It is
permissible to pray in it and there is no sin in that, because the one who
built it from haraam wealth may have intended by building it to rid himself
of the haraam wealth that he had acquired, in which case it was permissible
for him to build this mosque, if his intention was to get rid of haraam
wealth. But getting rid of haraam wealth is not only done by building
mosques, rather if a person spends that on any charitable project, he has
achieved the same aim. End quote.

Majmoo’
Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 12/question no. 304. See
also al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 4/344.

And Allaah
knows best.