Question :
What is the ruling of Islamic Law on making a construction over a Mosque?
The Answer :
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is not permissible to build above a mosque for any purpose other than prayer, because whatever lies above the mosque takes the ruling of the mosque, and building for a purpose other than prayer takes it out of what it was endowed (waqf) for.
Al-Māwardī (may Allah have mercy on him) states in al-Ḥāwī al-Kabīr (Vol.2/p.344): “The roof of the mosque and its courtyards are like the mosque itself.” Al-Shirbīnī states in al-Iqnāʿ fī Ḥall Alfāẓ Abī Shujāʿ (Vol.1/p.103): “The airspace of the mosque has the sanctity of the mosque.” Shaykh al-Islām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī said in Asná al-Maṭālib (Vol.2/p.220): “Al-Jurjānī and others said: It is not permissible to project [any structure] into the airspace of the mosque.”
The Resolution of the Jordanian Iftaā’ Board no. (91), concerning the ruling on building classrooms for teaching the Noble Qur’an above a mosque, states: “It is not appropriate to build classrooms dedicated to teaching the Noble Qur’an above the mosque, because nothing should be built above a mosque except for prayer; because the lower and upper parts of the mosque take the ruling of the mosque; and because building for a purpose other than prayer removes it from being a mosque, and this would become a pretext for erecting buildings above mosques that distance them from their original purposes.”
We note that the affairs of mosques are referred to the Ministry of Awqāf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, as it is the general custodian (mutawallī) of endowments in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And Allah Almighty knows best.
