Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- If the mosque’s income has diminished and it is unable to cover its employees’ salaries, it is permitted to use zakah money for this purpose.
2- This exception will be voided once its associated circumstances cease to exist.
Answering your question, the AMJA Resident Fatwa Committee, states:
The scholars have different views regarding what is intended by “in the way of Allah” when applied to zakah. There are those who hold a narrow view, some who hold a broad view, and others in the middle.
The safest view when it comes to building the mosque is to limit it to funds received from voluntary charity, and not to use obligatory zakah money except due to dire need.
It is legislated to spend zakah money for religious propagation (dawah) and on what is required to support this work, because this is included in the meaning of “in the way of Allah” found in the verse pertaining to spending zakah. This was the declaration made by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy associated with the Muslim World League.
Spending on an insolvent debtor includes a mosque’s loans; therefore, it is possible to use zakah money to pay them off. As for loans paid in installments, zakah is not to be used for these, with the exception of immediate installment payments.
It is not permitted to use zakah money to decorate the mosques. It is, however, permitted to do so with general charitable contributions, so long as such decoration is not considered excessive, nor distracts the congregants in prayer, nor is from funds that have been restricted by the donors.
In accordance with what has preceded, if the
mosque’s income, i.e., its receipts from charitable contributions, has
diminished and it is unable to cover its employees’ salaries, it is permitted
to use zakah money for this purpose. It should be noted, however, that this
exception will be voided once its associated circumstances cease to exist.
Also, specific rulings should be sought in order to justify the use of zakah
for other types of expenses.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Source: www.amjaonline.org