Answered by: Mufti Muhammad Adnan
Question
I am a member of my local Mosque and there is a requirement to pay a Membership Fee annually.
1. Can the Mosque use funds collected in this way to provide refreshments at General Meetings and other meetings, where the main congregation is not invited?
2. Where there is a surplus, can these monies be transferred to the General Lillah Fund?
3. Where the funds have been transferred to a General Lillah Fund, can the Mosque use these monies to continue to provide refreshments at General Meetings?
4. Are there any restrictions on where these Membership Fees can be used (i.e: purchasing office equipment)?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer
There are two ways of looking at this issue. If a Masjid has a membership fee as a requirement for the usage of its facilities then it will be impermissible to collect such funds. If the name ‘membership fee’ is merely used to collect certain amounts of donations from specific donors without any coercion then this will be permitted and it will be regarded as optional Sadaqah.
Optional Sadaqah can be used to provide refreshments in the meetings. (Raddul Mukhtaar v2 p339)
Sadaqah can be transferred into the general Lillah fund of the Masjid to meet financial requirements.
Optional Sadaqah and Lillah are the same things so interchanging funds between them is permitted. (Raddul Mukhtaar v2 p.339)
Optional Sadaqah can be used for anything that is needed by the Masjid. (Raddul Mukhtaar v2 p339)
Only Allah knows best
Written by Mufti Muhammad Adnan
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham