Making a Promise to Build a Mosque

2-10-2022 | IslamWeb

Question:

Asalam alaykum wa rahmatuLLAH wa barakatuhu, I want to ask for expiation for someone who made a promise to build a mosque on a piece of land he owns but later changes his mind. He told one or two persons of his intention. May Almighty Allah increase His Rahman upon you.

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Answer:

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

The mere promise of building a mosque or declaring the intention to build one does not bind you to the promise, and nothing entails on you, neither expiation nor anything else.

What makes it necessary for a person to act upon and which he cannot go back is if he makes a vows that necessitates commitment, such as saying, 'I vow or I make an oath to Allah to build a mosque', and so on.

Allah knows best.