An accountant who works in interest-based banks and has left his job: does he have zakah?
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Fatwa number ( 20068 )
Q: I have a brother who used to work as an accountant in one of the interest-based banks. He left his job at the bank after I pressed him to do so and after he came to believe in the prohibition of working in such banks. He has been looking for work for more than a year and has no income from any source. Is it permissible to give him my entire zakah ? Please note that my mother lives with him in his house, eating what he eats and drinking what he drinks.
A : If the situation is as you described, that your brother searched for work and was unable to find it, and he is among those eligible for zakah to whom it is permissible to distribute zakah – then it is permissible to give your zakah to him. You may give him from the zakah, due to his poverty, an amount that
suffices his needs for a year and covers his poverty. The fact that your mother lives with him and eats what your brother eats and drinks what he drinks does not prevent this; for the consideration is the state of the one receiving the zakah and his need for it. Once you give the zakah to its rightful recipient, it becomes his property, and he may dispose of it in accordance with the Shari'ah of Allah, on the condition that your giving him from the zakah is not a ruse on your part to enable him to provide for your mother if she is poor. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I have a brother who used to work as an accountant in one of the interest-based banks. He left his job at the bank after I pressed him to do so and after he came to believe in the prohibition of working in such banks. He has been looking for work for more than a year and has no income from any source. Is it permissible to give him my entire zakah ? Please note that my mother lives with him in his house, eating what he eats and drinking what he drinks.
A : If the situation is as you described, that your brother searched for work and was unable to find it, and he is among those eligible for zakah to whom it is permissible to distribute zakah – then it is permissible to give your zakah to him. You may give him from the zakah, due to his poverty, an amount that
suffices his needs for a year and covers his poverty. The fact that your mother lives with him and eats what your brother eats and drinks what he drinks does not prevent this; for the consideration is the state of the one receiving the zakah and his need for it. Once you give the zakah to its rightful recipient, it becomes his property, and he may dispose of it in accordance with the Shari'ah of Allah, on the condition that your giving him from the zakah is not a ruse on your part to enable him to provide for your mother if she is poor. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.