Fatwa ID: 01954

Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Question:

A brother is wondering whether the following scenario is somehow justified by our Shari'ah and whether what this people do is lawful:
"Since many years in our mosque, especially in Ramadan, every kind of people come to raise money from the local community for the building of a mosque.
I don't see anything wrong in this, but I have a doubt about what the Moroccans call the "nus nus rule", i.e. the "50% rule": basically, whoever comes to the local mosque to raise money for solidarity or charity, is forced to leave half of what he collected to the mosque committee (who are part of the reformist "al-'Adl wa al-Ihsan" movement). This consolidated habit of asking for half the money collected has taken the shape of a real "tax" which is applied on everything and on any kind of charity/sadaqa, included the money collected for humanitarian help in country where there are emergency situations.

My question is: is the "nus nus rule" permissible?

Answer:

In the aforementioned scenario, it will not be permissible for the Masjid to hold onto 50% of the collection (chanda) money.

The main reason for its impermissibility is that those who give the money they are giving it for that particular cause and not for the Masjid. Hence, it will not be allowed for the Masjid to hold onto any percentage of the money at all.

There is a similar ruling which can be found in the books of Fiqh where if a person donated some money to the Masjid for the refurbishment of the Wudhu area, then it will not be permissible for the trustees of the Masjid to use it for anything else. (Fatawa Mahmoodiyah p.263 v.12)

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham