Allocating Zakah Funds for the Medical Needs of Impoverished Families
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Fatwa No. ( 20590 )
Q: The National Charity Organization for Home Healthcare annually allocates amounts from zakah to be spent on the needs of needy families for patient supplies, such as beds, wheelchairs, artificial breathing machines, dialysis equipment, and artificial nutrition materials, in addition to repairing their homes according to their needs after they are afflicted, or by providing a caregiver for the patient. Is it permissible for us to act as agents for the zakah payers within the limits of its lawful categories, as previously explained, or in some collective and individual productive projects that benefit these families? This is, of course, in addition to the cash paid to them from zakah funds, such as monthly assistance salaries, and in emergencies and crises
and seasonal and religious occasions and festivals. Please inform us of this, may Allah reward you with good.
A: It is obligatory to spend zakah in its eight categories that Allah has specified in His saying, the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:60] , and it is obligatory to pay it to the needy person or his agent. It is not permissible to spend it on general projects, such as hospitals and their supplies, because these projects are funded from donations and other sources other than zakah. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: The National Charity Organization for Home Healthcare annually allocates amounts from zakah to be spent on the needs of needy families for patient supplies, such as beds, wheelchairs, artificial breathing machines, dialysis equipment, and artificial nutrition materials, in addition to repairing their homes according to their needs after they are afflicted, or by providing a caregiver for the patient. Is it permissible for us to act as agents for the zakah payers within the limits of its lawful categories, as previously explained, or in some collective and individual productive projects that benefit these families? This is, of course, in addition to the cash paid to them from zakah funds, such as monthly assistance salaries, and in emergencies and crises
and seasonal and religious occasions and festivals. Please inform us of this, may Allah reward you with good.
A: It is obligatory to spend zakah in its eight categories that Allah has specified in His saying, the Exalted:
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler
إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَالْغَارِمِينَ وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.