We are Muslims living ina kaafir state, and the government has now started to build some mosques in the places where Muslims live. Is it permissible for us to recognize these mosques even though we have no built them ourselves at the time when we are able to do that, and even though their roofs are made of leaves from trees, knowing that the government is currently keen to please the Muslims so that the Muslims will stop opposing the government? We should also note that we do not know where this help is coming from, is it really from the government or from our Muslim brothers overseas? We hope that you can give us a reply.
Praise be to Allah.It is well known that governments and the peoples under
their rule share different kinds of rights and duties, financial, physical and moral. If
the situation is as you mention, that the government under whose care you are in
Christian, and that it has started to build mosques in the Muslim areas and that it is
fulfilling its duties towards those who are under its care, and meeting their needs and
providing them with worldly and religious public facilities in return for the
Muslims’ doing their duties towards it and the benefits it earns from them, then in
this case there are no reservations about you accepting the mosques that it is providing
in fulfilment of its duties towards you. But this should not involve any reminder to you
of its favours, or expectation of something in return . indeed, you should accept these
mosques and ask for more and for the establishment of Islamic schools. You should not be
deterred from asking for all your rights, religious and secular, just because you have
been given some of them.
You should also cooperate amongst yourselves to establish other
facilities such as mosques, Islamic schools and anything else that you need, whilst also
taking care that the stewardship and supervision of mosques and schools etc., built for
you by the government should be given to Muslims, not to others, so that nothing happens
in them that goes against sharee’ah. This is in accordance with the words of Allaah
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Help you one another in Al-Birr and Al-Taqwa (virtue,
righteousness and piety)” [al-Maa’idah 5:2]
As regards the money that was spent by the government, you do not need
to know where it came from, because there is no daleel to suggest that this is necessary.