Spending some of the zakah funds on salaries for employees working in the zakah distribution office
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Fatwa number ( 21078 )
Q: I hope you will issue a ruling for us, may Allah reward you: If a company establishes an office to organize the payment and distribution of zakah and voluntary charity, and rents an office for them and appoints employees to study the submitted applications, follow up on them, sort them, and ensure that the amounts reach the rightful recipients of zakah and charity after verification, knowing that 70% of the office's work concerns the distribution of zakah, and approximately 30% of the office's work concerns the distribution of voluntary charity, is it permissible to spend from the zakah funds on the salaries of the employees working in this office, as well as on the office expenses such as rent, furniture, office supplies, stationery, and travel expenses
to remote areas when the section's representatives travel for payment or follow-up, or should the expenses be restricted to the same approximate ratio between zakah and voluntary charity? Please issue a ruling for us, may Allah reward you in this world and the Hereafter. Amen.
A: It is not permissible to spend any of the zakah funds on the salaries of the employees working in the aforementioned office, nor on the value of the office rent, nor on any other furniture, office tools, or the like; because all of that is not among the eight categories of zakah expenditure mentioned in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:60] , and those who work on it are those whom the ruler has entrusted with collecting the zakah and distributing it to its rightful recipients, as agreed upon by the scholars. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: I hope you will issue a ruling for us, may Allah reward you: If a company establishes an office to organize the payment and distribution of zakah and voluntary charity, and rents an office for them and appoints employees to study the submitted applications, follow up on them, sort them, and ensure that the amounts reach the rightful recipients of zakah and charity after verification, knowing that 70% of the office's work concerns the distribution of zakah, and approximately 30% of the office's work concerns the distribution of voluntary charity, is it permissible to spend from the zakah funds on the salaries of the employees working in this office, as well as on the office expenses such as rent, furniture, office supplies, stationery, and travel expenses
to remote areas when the section's representatives travel for payment or follow-up, or should the expenses be restricted to the same approximate ratio between zakah and voluntary charity? Please issue a ruling for us, may Allah reward you in this world and the Hereafter. Amen.
A: It is not permissible to spend any of the zakah funds on the salaries of the employees working in the aforementioned office, nor on the value of the office rent, nor on any other furniture, office tools, or the like; because all of that is not among the eight categories of zakah expenditure mentioned in the saying of Allah 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 - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.
إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَالْغَارِمِينَ وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ فَرِيضَةً مِنَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.