Is the Sports Area Housed in a Masjid Building Considered a Legal Masjid?

Answered by Shaykh Abdullah Anik Misra

Question

There is a mosque that was originally a youth center that has a soccer/basketball court inside. This center now is called a mosque. For now, it still retains the indoor soccer arena and still utilizes it to arrange for youth sports.

Does this center fall under the heading of a mosque although we still pray in the basketball area where sports are played?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

A masjid in Islamic law becomes officially consecrated once the owner(s) of a piece of land and/or property make the intention and declare that they have endowed a specified area as a masjid, and then one of the congregational prayers takes place in it. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

The center can still be called a masjid whether or not it has facilities for sports to be played there, but sometimes only some areas of the facility are the legal masjid while the other rooms are attached for other community purposes, depending on the intentions of those who initially endowed the masjid. [Ibid]

Whether the whole premises, only part of it, or none of it yet has been consecrated as a legal masjid according to Sacred Law (to which the rulings of a legal masjid would apply) is something you can find out from the trustees if you like.

Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Abdullah Anik Misra
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdullah Misra was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1983. His family hails from India, and he was raised in the Hindu tradition. He embraced Islam in 2001 while at the University of Toronto, from where he completed a Bachelor of Business Administration. He then traveled overseas in 2005 to study the Arabic language and Islamic sciences in Tarim, Yemen, for some time, as well as Darul Uloom in Trinidad, West Indies. He spent 12 years in Amman, Jordan, where he focused on Islamic Law, Theology, Hadith Sciences, Prophetic Biography, and Islamic Spirituality while also working at the Qasid Arabic Institute as Director of Programs. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies (Alimiyya, Darul Uloom) and authorization in the six authentic books of Hadith and is currently pursuing specialized training in issuing Islamic legal verdicts (ifta’). He holds a certificate in Counselling and often works with new Muslims and those struggling with religious OCD. He is an instructor and researcher in Sacred Law and Theology with the SeekersGuidance The Global Islamic Seminary. Currently, He resides in the Greater Toronto Area with his wife and children. His personal interests include Indian history, comparative religion, English singing, and poetry.