Building Mosque using zakat
-
Assalamualaikum all )
I received request from a trusted muslim fellow, he asked me to use my zakat to help out building a mosque. I thot zakat is for the needy? Can this be right? I dont want zakat to be like those taxes for churches in the old days, where the churches looked very posh but ppl were poor..
cheers
Wassalamualaikum Wr Wb
Nin's -
Thanks very much for your feedback drfazl..
I did mentioned to my muslim friend that I find it weird to have a big nice mosque when ppl living around it can't afford to send their kids to primary school or to buy decent clothes/food.. But even the needy ones in the area think that contributing to build the mosque will help them walking in Allah's path. I admire their faith, but sometimes it's just too insensible and frustating at times. My friend's answer was something like that this mosque is built to house a comittee that will help educate the needy on home industries, keep them away from gambling etc so the purpose is inline with Allah's path... Surely a basic place to keep things from rain and shine will be good enough right? -
Peace be upon you Nin,
The word "zakaat" means purification. Charity is referred to as "sadaqa".
A "masjid" is a mental position where one hears and obeys the God's restrictions, it is NOT a physcial building. Why waste all that money on a building unless it is for a homeless person?
