Rules Concerning Graveyards: Building a Masjid on Land of a Derelict Cemetery with Uncertain Waqf Status

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Rules Concerning Graveyards: Building a Masjid on Land of a Derelict Cemetery with Uncertain Waqf Status

English:

Question #2097:

Is it permissible to build a masjid on the land of a derelict cemetery, especially when it is not known whether or not it is held in trust?

Answer #2097:

There is no objection to doing so provided that the land of the cemetery is not: [a] an endowment, [b] private property, [c] a facility for the public at large, or [d] a piece of land for holding ceremonies and building the masjid does not entail desecrating the graves or exhuming the bodies of Muslims.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Rules Concerning Graveyards