Some Islamic experts, at the weekend, shed light on the discourse of why nobody can lay claim to being the owner of a mosque.
Unlike in Christianity, where some churches are owned by their founders who are mostly called General Overseers, it’s a different scenario in Islam, where the mosques are not specifically owned by anyone.
Some Islamic clerics who spoke with our correspondent, said mosques are either public properties or are just places of worship.
An Islamic scholar, Dr. Mustapha Bello, in his response, said, “A mosque is a place of worship and remembrance of Allah, and mosques are special places of worship for Muslims.
“Five times every day, Muslims meet in the mosque and pray together; standing before God, bowing to Him.
Bello, a lecturer in the Department of Islamic Religion and Peace Studies, Lagos State University, noted that a Muslim does not belong to a mosque in the way that a Christian might belong to a specific church.
“Any Muslim can use any mosque although, naturally, the nearness of one’s home or place of work will often influence which mosque a person attends.”
He added that for Muslims, the offering of prayers is not confined to the four walls of a mosque.
“They (Muslims) can pray in places other than the mosque as well. All of the earth is a mosque. Prayer must be done at specific times. So, when it is time for prayer, and a Muslim cannot go or get to the mosque, he/she may do it at home, in the office or any clean place,” he clarified.
He also recalled, “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, ‘The whole earth has been made a mosque for me. The building used as a mosque and everything inside it is consecrated in the name of God and its ownership should not be vested in any individual or organisation.”
For this reason, he stressed, a mosque cannot be sold, mortgaged or rented for any purpose.
“This may not be applicable to a building which has been converted for use as a mosque as a temporary measure. In non-Muslim societies, it may be difficult to get permission to build mosques and so, other buildings are converted by the Muslim community,” Bello explained.
Another scholar, Sheikh Abdulsemiu Ajani, the Chief Missioner of Islamic Education and Faith Initiative, noted that in most cases, people donate together, contribute resources together to erect a mosque, and then it becomes the community’s property.
“Ideally, Islam does not allow someone to claim that he or she is the owner of a mosque; it is what we call waqf (endowment) which means, something solely for the cause of Allah.
“In case an individual builds a mosque, he or she must disengage himself from being the owner; in fact, when he or she passes on, it is not among the estates of that person that will be shared, as it becomes the community’s property,” he explained.
Another cleric, Imam Ismael Lawal, the Director of Baytulm College, Lagos, said that when it comes to ownership of mosques, two things are involved. He said there are society/movement mosques and there are also, solat (prayer) mosques.
He noted that as for a solat mosque, no one can claim ownership to it other than being named in memory or honour of a person, as the mosque belongs to the community.
Whoever built a mosque, he said, should not expect returns in whatever form.
