Impermissibility of furnishing the Masjid with money endowed to feed fasting people

Fatwa no. 373 All praise be to Allah Alone. Peace and blessings be upon the Last Prophet.The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' examined the question submitted by the Director of General Department for Endowments and Mosques of the Middle and Eastern Provinces to His Eminence Chairman of the Departments of Scholarly Research, Ifta', Da`wah, and Guidance referred to the Departments by the General Secretariat of Council of Senior Scholars no. 1813, dated 9/11/1392 A.H. The question is: (Part No. 16; Page No. 85) Is it permissible to furnish the Masjid of Shaykh `Abdullah ibn `Abdul-Latif with a small part from the revenue of a Waqf (endowment) assigned for providing food to break the fast for the people of this Masjid who are fasting?

After considering this question, the Committee wrote the following answer: Since the Waqf is essentially assigned for providing food to break the fast for fasting people, it is not permissible to use it for furnishing the Masjid. Whatever remains after providing food for the fasting people of the Masjid has to be spent on providing food for fasting people of other Masjids in order to fulfill the intention of the endowers. The endowers' words have to be treated like religious texts in terms of interpretation and connotation. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.