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Can an existing Masjid & Madrasah be demolished to build a new one in it’s place – please see details below.

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

We hope you are in the best of health and Iman. We would be most grateful if you could send a reply to the mas’alah that concerns us a community in Blackburn, UK. To provide sufficient background, the building that we are currently using as our masjid and madrasah is approximately 150 years old. This used to be a Christian church School, which had suffered some damage during World war II as a result of which one of the walls is structurally improper. The Memebers of the community bought this building for £20,000 (pounds) in 1980. Since then we have spent approximately £150,000 (pounds) on both the repair of the building and also to make it suitable for using it as it’s purpose. The building is now becoming older and weaker and increasingly more money is required to maintain and run the masjid. The walls, windows and roof need maintenance and the building as a whole is in need of major re-furbishment. The question we would like to ask you as a Masjid and Madrasah Committee is ; Q. Can we completely demolish (make Shaheed) the present building and build a new one in the same place as a new Masjid and Madrasah. We are having a General Meeting with the whole community on Sunday 15th September 2002 and we would appreciate if you could provide a reply before this time.

Answer

Based on the condition of the building as you have described it to us, it
will be permissible to demolish the building and rebuild it. (Fataawa
Mahmoodiya vol.10 pg.179)

However, we wish to stress upon the fact that the area which was demarcated
to be Musjid, will always remain Musjid. Therefore, it is essential that
when the building is rebuilt, the Musjid must be built over the very same
area upon which it always was. If the need be, it may well be extended but
it will not be permissible to build the Madrasah on the original Musjid
area.

and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

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This answer was collected from Askimam.org, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.