Q. "I am
a recent subscriber to your worthy magazine and have enjoyed every issue
of your magazine since December last year. I pray that Allah will give
you and your organization all strength and willingness to carry on your
good work. I would be obliged if you would answer these questions for
me either directly or through the medium of your magazine.
1) Who are the people who form the Jamaah of a mosque? Is there
an area limit? Are there any other criteria to form the Jamaah?
2) There is a mosque in our city which is situated in a highly
commercial area. This area was formerly highly residential and the many
Muslims living there built and maintained the mosque. They also donated
several properties to this mosque as waqf which gives this mosque substantial
income. Can the descendants of these donors and residents of this locality
still continue to be part of the Jamaah of this mosque?
3) Who is trustee of a mosque? Must he be from the Jamaath who
qualifies to be a trustee? What are his duties? Can a person who does
not form part of the Jamaah of a mosque be a trustee of a mosque? Can
trusteeship pass on from father to son because the father has contributed
substantially to the building and maintenance of the mosque?
(A.
Majid M. Abdul Cader, Colombo, Sri Lanka)
A. The mosque is a particular kind of waqf not owned by anyone.
It is a property devoted for the pleasure of Allah. As soon as someone
makes his property waqf for the purpose of building a mosque, he ceases
to be its owner. However, while effecting a waqf one can appoint himself,
or any person of his choice, as administrator of that waqf who takes care
of its management and carries out its day-to-day affairs according to
Shariah and conforming to the conditions of the waqf. This administrator
is called "mutawalli".
If no mutawalli has been appointed by the founder of the waqf, the founder
of the waqf shall be deemed to be the mutaw- alli during his lifetime,
unless he appoints another person as such. The founder of the waqf can
also appoint a person to take charge of the administration of the waqf
after his death. But if no such person has been appointed by him, the
privil- ege of appointing a mutawalli shall pass on to the Islamic State
or judge authorized by the State. If the waqf is created in a non-muslim
country, or in a muslim country where the State does not carry out the
administration of the waqf the Muslim residents of the relevent area are
entitled to appoint a mutawalli. It is preferable for them to select a
mutawallifrom among the descendants of the founder of the waqf, provided
that he is qualified to work as such. However, this is not a universal
principle. The Islamic state or the inhabitants of the area may appoint
any other person from outside, specially when he is more capable to carry
out the functions of the waqf.
A mutawalli of a mosque should always be an adult Muslim, fully capable
of administering the affairs of the mosque in a trust-worthy manner using
the funds with honesty for the betterment of the waqf only. He should
also be a practicing Mus- lim. If he lacks any of these conditions, he
is liable to be removed, even if he is the maker of the waqf himself or
if he is one of his descendants or any other person. In this case he must
be substituted by another person. In this case he must be substituted
by another person fully qualified for the purpose.
The administration of a waqf or a mosque can be entrusted to a committee
also, in which case the committee, as a whole, shall be the mutawalli
of the mosque having the same rights and obligations as those of an individual
mutawalli. The members of this committee should, as far as practicable,
have all the qualities mentioned above for a mutawalli of a mosque.
These are the basic principles underlying the rules of the administration
of a mosque. In the light of these principles the answers to your questions
can be understood easily. However, a brief answer to each question is
given below for your con- venience :
1. Most probably you have used the word "Juma'ah of a mosque"
in the sense of its executive committee. There is no particular number
prescribed for its members, nor a particular locality from which they
may be selected. The main requirement is that they should have the qualities
of a mutawalli as mentioned above.
2. If the descendants fulfil the aforesaid requirements, they can
continue to be the members of the committee.Otherwise, they should be
substituted by capable persons.
3. "Trustee" is a legal term, different in connotation
from the Islamic term "Mutawalli". The qualifications of mutawalli
have been explained earlier. If the executive committee has been formed
after creating a legal trust, each member of the Board of Trustee can
be regarded as a trustee, and his qualifications are the same as mentioned
with reference to the member of the executive committee.
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