1. Tamim al-Dari was the first man to bring from Damascus lamps for the mosque which he hung to its walls. This pleased the Messenger of Allah (saw) and he (saw) praised him by saying, “You have illuminated our mosque, may Allah cast His light upon you.” 2. The building of mosques is a duty upon the Islamic State: Building mosques is a duty upon the Islamic State and a mandub act upon the individuals. This mandub act does not necessitate the establishment charity associations, as some Muslims have engaged in nowadays. The mandub act must only be done within the permitted rules of Islam. So to build a mosque by getting a loan from the bank which involved riba is strictly forbidden.

3. Spending the zakat on the mosques: It is forbidden to spend the zakat funds on the mosques, for Allah (swt) has restricted the disposal of zakat to the eight categories mentioned in the Qur’an. He (swt) says, “???” [TMQ : ] The verse has clearly singled out these categories as being the ones eligible to receive a share of the zakat, and there is no mention of the mosques among them. The phrase ‘fi sabilillah’ (in the way of Allah) in Shari‘ah terminology refers solely to the lawful Jihad. Besides, the zakat is an act of worship that should not be reasoned, nor should the disposal of it be reasoned either, this is so because the Shari‘ah principle states: The basis of the rituals, food and clothing is that they are unquestionable. i.e. their rules should be taken as they are without any reasoning.

3. Collecting zakat funds in the mosques: It is forbidden to collect the zakat monies in the mosques without the prior permission of the Khaleefah; and in the absence of the Khaleefah, the role of the mosque would be restricted, as far as the duty of zakat is concerned, to directing the Muslims and exhorting them towards acting to establish the Khilafah and to appoint a Khaleefah, as well as exhorting them to establish the duty of zakat by handing it directly to the eligible categories which Allah (swt) mentioned in the Qur’an. However, it is permitted for the one who becomes liable for zakat to delegate an individual whom he trusts, whether he were the Imam or someone else, to dispose of the due zakat on his behalf, provided the zakat is spent exclusively on the eight categories mentioned in the verse. It is absolutely forbidden to delegate the duty of distributing the zakat to associations, groups, parties or charity organisations. It is, however, permitted to delegate individuals belonging to such associations in an individual capacity, because the rules of delegation in the Islamic Shari‘ah applies only to individuals and not to the groups. We must warn here that the establishing of the so called charity organisations is forbidden in Islam; it is an innovation which was brought to us by the disbelieving colonialists and designed to separate the deen from politics, leaving the political work in the hands of the politicians and the charity work in the hands of the clergy, and this contradicts the rules of Islam. It is wrong to claim that the establishment of charity organisations is permissible in the absence of the Khilafah. Some people even use the verse, “And cooperate on the goodness and the piety.” [TMQ : ] to back their arguments. Who said that the formation of charity organisations is an act of birr (goodness)? It is rather a mischievous act; and evidence of this is expressed in the remainder of the verse, “And do not cooperate on the sin and the aggression.” [TMQ : ] One might say that if these organisations did not exist, who would help the poor and the needy?

The point at issue here concerns the Shari‘ah rules and the acts of worships, not the sentiments and high feelings at the expense of violating the Shari‘ah. As for the poor and the needy, Islam has made it mandub for the Muslims to give them sadaqah and made it compulsory upon the Muslims to give the zakat to them. In fact, it is the absence of the Islamic State that makes it difficult for the poor and needy to receive the zakat properly, in an organised and continuous way, whenever and whoever needs it. The Muslims should, therefore, in obedience to Allah (swt) concentrate their efforts on establishing the Khilafah State and removing the collaborating rulers, rather than split the duties as some ignorant among them have claimed, and disobey the command of Allah (swt), thus becoming sinful just like the rulers, for they too would be implementing other than the rule of Allah (swt). It is also forbidden to pay the zakat to the rulers for they rule by other than what Allah (swt)

has revealed and they therefore have no legitimate mandate to collect the zakat or any other funds.