Fatwa No : 96510
The ruling on taking a loan from mosque funds.

The ruling on taking a loan from mosque funds.

Zaid is an imam in a mosque. In the mosque administration, there is a person and the imam of the mosque (Zaid) who acts as the treasurer, and both handle matters by mutual consultation. Zaid (the imam) needed four hundred fifty thousand rupees (450,000) for his personal needs, and he is capable of repaying this money because he has a bit more than one tola of gold. But since the price of gold has dropped for now, Zaid took four hundred fifty thousand rupees (450,000) from the mosque as a loan to meet his needs and wants to wait for a few months so that once the gold price rises, he can sell the gold and repay the full loan. Zaid has already informed the other members of the mosque about his action. Out of this amount, one hundred thousand rupees (100,000) were repaid within two days, leaving a total remaining debt of three hundred and fifty thousand (350,000). Now, the question for you is whether Zaid’s action is permissible or not.

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

It should be clear that the mosque's funds are kept in trust with the mosque committee or the treasurer, etc., and it's not permissible to use the trust in this way. Therefore, this money cannot be lent to anyone else nor can the committee members take it as a loan themselves. If they do, it will be considered a breach of trust according to Shariah. So in the given situation, the mentioned imam of the mosque cannot take a loan from this money on his own and inform the management later; doing so makes him guilty of a sin. He should repent and seek forgiveness, return the money to the mosque fund as soon as possible, and completely avoid such actions in the future.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

کما فی البحر الرائق: قال العلامة ابن نجيم رحمه الله: أن القيم ليس له إقراض مال المسجد. قال في جامع الفصولين: ليس للمتولي إبداع مال الوقف والمسجد إلا ممن في عياله ولا إقراضه، فلو أقرضه ضمن ، وكذا المستقرض،اھ (كتاب الوقف،تصرفات الناظر في الوقف،ج: 5،ص: 259،مط: دار الکتاب الاسلامی)
و فی العقود الدریة: أن القيم ليس له إقراض مال المسجد قال في جامع الفصولين ليس للمتولي إيداع مال الوقف والمسجد إلا ممن في عياله ولا إقراضه فلو أقرضه ضمن وكذا المستقرض،اھ(كتاب الوقف،الباب الثالث في أحكام النظار،ج: 1،ص: 229،مط: دار المعرفة)
وفي الفتاوى الهندية: الوديعة لا تودع ولا تعار ولا تؤاجر ولا ترهن، وإن فعل شيئا منها ضمن،اھ (كتاب الوديعة،الباب الأول في تفسير الإيداع،ج: 4،ص: 338،مط: دار الفکر )