Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling of giving Zakat for the benefit of the mosque? ما حكم صرف الزكاة في مصالح المساجد؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say: Allah the Exalted sufficiently clarified the beneficiaries of Zakat in his book and He said, “Zakah expenditures are meant only for the poor, the needy, those who administer them, those whose hearts need winning over, to free slaves and help those in debt, for God’s cause, and for travelers in need” [at-Tawbah 9: 60]. These are eight types of beneficiaries. Then Allah said, “This is ordained by God”. This means that it is not permissible to exceed these beneficiaries, or suggest other beneficiaries besides these.   Mosques were not mentioned in the verse. That is why the majority of the scholars in the past and present times held the view that it is not permissible to use Zakat for the benefit of the mosque or to build a mosque, because this is suggesting a recipient of Zakat whom Allah did not mention and it is contradicting Allah. The needs of the mosque should be met by funds from endowments, wills and charity from the Muslims.