Making use of a Musalla no longer used for Salah

Fatwa no. 20861 All praise is due to Allah Alone and peace and blessings be upon the last Prophet.The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' reviewed the letter submitted to His Eminence the Mufty from His Excellency the General Manager of Islamic Affairs in the Armed Forces with the number 2/10/1457 on 2/6/1419 A.H. This letter was referred to the Committee from the Secretariat General of the Council of Senior Scholars with the number 3691 on 13/6/1419 A.H.; and it included the following question posed by His Excellency:I refer to Your Eminence the question submitted from the manager of my children's high school - King `Abdul-`Aziz Military Academy - regarding the following subject:There is a Masjid (mosque) inside the same building of the academy. The Masjid is very small, as it is only seven by five meters. Due to its narrow area and the large number of students, Salah (Prayer) is offered in the gymnasium. The academy officials want to turn this Masjid into a computer room to calculate the final results. Is it permissible to use this Masjid (Part No. 5; Page No. 173) as a computer room since no congregational Salah is offered in it? Please advise us in this regard.

After studying the question, the Committee answered: If the reality is as mentioned, it is permissible to change this Musalla (a place for Prayer) into a computer room and designate a larger area to be used as a Musalla. This may be done because it cannot accommodate the number of those who offer Salah and it is not regarded as Waqf (endowment) like other Masjids.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.