The Ruling on Offering Salah in a Mosque Built from Tobacco Earnings
Source: Fatāwā Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mubārakpūrī, Vol. 1, Pg. 187
❖ Question
If a mosque is constructed with money earned from the trade of tobacco, is it permissible to perform Salah in such a mosque according to Shari‘ah? If impermissible, should such a mosque be demolished? Please provide a detailed and sound answer.
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh, ammā ba‘d!
◈ The Shar‘i Status of Tobacco Trade
① In my view, tobacco trade is makrūh (disliked) and prohibited.
② The earnings from such a trade are considered impure (non-ṭayyib).
③ Therefore, constructing a mosque from such income is not appropriate.
◈ If the Mosque Was Built Out of Ignorance or Difference of Opinion
① If a mosque was built due to ignorance or lack of awareness with tobacco earnings, or
② The builder believed tobacco trade to be permissible based on his research, then:
✔ Demolishing the mosque is not necessary.
✔ Performing Salah in it is valid and permissible.
✔ However, the builders will not attain reward for this deed, because:
"إن الله طيب لا يقبل إلا الطيب”
(Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Zakāh, Bāb al-Ṣadaqah min Kasb Ṭayyib 3/113; Muslim, Kitāb al-Zakāh, Bāb Qabūl al-Ṣadaqah min Kasb Ṭayyib 2/703, 1015)
◈ Scholarly Differences Regarding the Ruling of Tobacco
➊ There is no consensus among scholars:
- A group declares it harām.
- Another group calls it makrūh and considers avoidance preferable.
- A third group deems it permissible without karāhah, and this was the practice of many Ahl al-Ḥadīth scholars.
➋ Based on these differences:
✔ Constructing a mosque from such income can even be regarded as permissible and rewarding.
✔ To show extremism and demand demolition of such a mosque is baseless rigidity.
✔ In matters of ikhtilāf, leniency is required.
◈ Evidences from Other Examples
1. Marine Animals’ Permissibility
- According to Ḥanafiyyah: only fish are ḥalāl; others are ḥarām.
- Other Imams: many sea creatures are ḥalāl.
- Yet, even Ḥanafis do not issue fatwa to demolish mosques funded by such earnings.
2. Tasmiyah (Bismillāh) in Wuḍū
- Imām Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh declared it wājib.
- But if left out, wuḍū is still valid.
3. Recitation of Sūrah al-Fātiḥah by Followers
- Some consider it obligatory on the follower.
- Ḥanafis hold that omission does not invalidate the prayer.
✔ From such examples, it becomes clear that harshness in ikhtilāfī masā’il is not appropriate.
◈ Comparison with Other Prohibited Earnings
- Tobacco earnings are not worse than income from interest (ribā), fornication (zinā), or prostitution.
- If a mosque were built from such unlawful sources:
✔ Salah in it would still be valid.
✔ Demolition would not be required.
✔ This has been affirmed by Shaykh al-Mashāyikh al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Ghāzī Fūrī in Fatāwā al-Qalamiyyah, and also by Sayyid Naẓīr Ḥusayn Dehlawī in his printed fatāwā.
◈ Ḥadīth Evidence: The Earth as a Mosque
"جعلت لي الأرض مسجدًا وطهورًا”
(Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, 1/113; Tirmidhī, 2/178; Ibn Mājah, 1/246)
✔ This ḥadīth is general, meaning prayer is valid anywhere on earth, except for those places specifically excluded by authentic ḥadīth, such as:
- Garbage dumps
- Slaughterhouses
- Graveyards
- Middle of roads
- Bathrooms
- Camel enclosures
- Roof of the Ka‘bah
Al-Shawkānī clarified that the prohibition applies only to these specified places, otherwise all land is permissible for prayer (Nayl al-Awṭār, 2/144).
◈ Mosque Built on Usurped Land
- If land is seized unlawfully, building a mosque on it is impermissible.
- Yet, Salah inside remains valid, though the oppressor is sinful.
"الصلوة فى الارض المغصوبة جائزة ولكن يعاقب بظلمه"
(Mukhtār al-Fatāwā, ‘Ālamgīrī, Radd al-Muḥtār)
◈ Separation Between Builder’s Deed and Worshipper’s Deed
- Constructing a mosque from unlawful wealth is the builder’s action.
- Performing Salah in it is the worshipper’s action.
- The Qur’an states:
"وَلا تَزِرُ وازِرَةٌ وِزرَ أُخرىٰ" (al-An‘ām: 164)
✔ Meaning: no soul bears the burden of another.
◈ Importance of the Land in a Mosque
- The essence of a mosque is the land dedicated (waqf) for it.
- If the land was purchased lawfully, but construction used impure wealth:
✔ Salah remains valid, since the land itself is pure.
◈ Distinction Between Validity and Reward
- Acceptance has two aspects:
① Ṣiḥḥah (validity) – Salah is performed correctly.
② Thawāb (reward) – Allah grants reward for pure deeds.
"إن الله طيب لا يقبل إلا الطيب”
✔ Means: Allah only rewards deeds done with pure wealth. It does not mean the Salah itself becomes invalid.
Conclusion
- Constructing a mosque with tobacco earnings is not praiseworthy.
- However, if such a mosque already exists:
✔ Demolition is not required.
✔ Performing Salah in it is valid and permissible.
✔ Worshippers’ prayers will be accepted.
✔ The builders, however, will not attain reward for their construction.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
