Do churches and other houses of worship become the property of Muslims if they pray in them? And where can the incident of Omar ibn Al-Khattab's refusal to pray in a church in Jerusalem, for fear of it being converted into a mosque, be found?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
1. Muslims do not become entitled to churches merely by praying in them. Umar feared that churches might be seized under the pretext of his prayer in them.
2. The story is found in history books when the conquest of Jerusalem is mentioned.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/30671
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 30671
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy