Our Masjid was built on two floors initially and specific intention to include sections of these two floors as Jamaat Khana was made, subsequently due to planning objections the basement (which was not intended to be used as Jamaat Khana and has never been used for such purpose) was built to be used as a car park. This basement occupies almost the entire boundary of the Masjid including the Jamaat Khana which is directly above. We would like to clarify the following rulings of Shariah; 1) Is the area of the basement to be treated as a Shar’i Masjid? 2) If NO then can it be used for community projects such as recreational facilities (Gym, Snooker etc.)? Can Non-Muslims members of the community participate in activities conducted within this area? 3) If YES then what are the limitations of its use? May Allah (SWT) reward you for taking the time to answer these queries. Jazakullah Khairun

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The mosque is the place designated for prayer. So, if the ground floor was not designated for prayer but rather a parking lot, then it is permissible to use it as a gym provided trustworthy people are in charge of it so that only permissible types of sports activities are carried out and lawful sports are practised in a permissible manner as well. There is no harm also for non-Muslims to participate in these sports activities provided the religious requirements of dealing with non-Muslims are met.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 88767.