In-kind donations from alms when presented to institutions for distribution
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Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the questioner: the Chairman of the Hadiyah and Riqah Committee for Zakah and Alms in Kuwait , and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (10044) and date 20/11/1422 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is as follows: As is clear to your Excellency from the name of the Committee, the work of the Committee—and praise be to Allah—is in the matters of righteousness and acts of worship, such as zakah, alms, vows, expiations, and others. Therefore, it was incumbent upon us, when facing certain matters that may be difficult for us, to present them to the scholars of the people of the Sunnah and the community. Thus, we presented the matter to you to decide what is correct. The matter is summarized as follows: The Committee receives monetary and in-kind donations from people of righteousness and benevolence. Some people of good, may Allah reward them with good, donate used clothing with the intention of distributing it to the poor and needy. The Committee originally collected these clothes, sold them, and then placed their value in the alms that originally benefit the poor and the needy. When the
Committee encountered difficulty regarding the legitimacy of this matter, we hastened to contact those in whom we have good opinion. And as the scholars of old said: "The ruling on a thing is a branch of its conception," we wanted to make the picture clear and distinct before you. The matters that perhaps contributed to the Committee selling these clothes include the following: 1. The clothes vary in quality; we find among them the good and the fine, and the bad and the tattered. 2. People differ in build, and naturally the clothes vary in length, width, and size, which poses an obstacle to distributing them to the poor and needy; what benefits Zayd is not necessarily what benefits 'Umar. 3. The difficulty of distributing these clothes to the poor and the entitled, because that requires knowledge, labor, and great effort. 4. The difficulty represented by distributing these clothes will lead to their delay, which leads to the delay of the alms. 5. The intentions of the donors differ; some intend pure alms, and some intend merely to get rid of the clothes. When the intentions varied, our main concern was the goal, which is delivering that value to the entitled. 6. Above all of this, considering the custom of people, distributing clothes to
the needy is almost abandoned in charitable committees. May Allah guide your steps. And in the spirit of making things easy for people and considering their circumstances and needs, based on the saying of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), if the hadith is authentic: "Make it easier for yourselves, and it is better for the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah ." It was narrated by al-Bukhari as a suspended narration with a form of certainty. See (al-Fath 3/365, Book of Zakah 24, Chapter 33: Display in Zakah). And the Hafiz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It is to Tawus with a sound chain in Zakah." But he did not hear from Mu'adh , so it is a broken chain (Tughliq al-Ta'liq 3/12-13, ed.: al-Maktab al-Islami). And based on the saying of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in (Majmu' al-Fatawa) regarding paying out the value in zakah and expiations: "The most apparent in this is that paying out the value without need, and without a stronger benefit, is prohibited. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) estimated the compensation with two sheep, or twenty dirhams, and did not resort to the value. And because if paying out the value is permitted absolutely, the owner may resort to inferior types, and harm may occur in the valuation. And because zakah is based on equality, and this is considered in the amount of the wealth and its type. But as for paying out the value for need, benefit, or justice, there is no harm with it." (Majmu' 25/82-83). It is known to the honorable scholars that the door of alms is wider than the door of zakah, and Allah knows best. These are some of the matters and elements that led the Committee to what we mentioned above of selling the clothes and placing their value in the door of alms, which
originally returns to the poor and the needy in a form we considered more effective and faster. Knowing that we inform the donors, to the extent of our ability, that we sell these clothes and distribute the money to the poor and the needy. And this, and we ask Allah to guide you to what He loves and is pleased with.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it answered that if the donated clothes were specified for certain people, they are to be given to them as they are, and it is not permissible for the Committee to sell them. And if those clothes are for unspecified people and the Committee sees that selling them is better, it may do what is better.
Committee encountered difficulty regarding the legitimacy of this matter, we hastened to contact those in whom we have good opinion. And as the scholars of old said: "The ruling on a thing is a branch of its conception," we wanted to make the picture clear and distinct before you. The matters that perhaps contributed to the Committee selling these clothes include the following: 1. The clothes vary in quality; we find among them the good and the fine, and the bad and the tattered. 2. People differ in build, and naturally the clothes vary in length, width, and size, which poses an obstacle to distributing them to the poor and needy; what benefits Zayd is not necessarily what benefits 'Umar. 3. The difficulty of distributing these clothes to the poor and the entitled, because that requires knowledge, labor, and great effort. 4. The difficulty represented by distributing these clothes will lead to their delay, which leads to the delay of the alms. 5. The intentions of the donors differ; some intend pure alms, and some intend merely to get rid of the clothes. When the intentions varied, our main concern was the goal, which is delivering that value to the entitled. 6. Above all of this, considering the custom of people, distributing clothes to
the needy is almost abandoned in charitable committees. May Allah guide your steps. And in the spirit of making things easy for people and considering their circumstances and needs, based on the saying of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), if the hadith is authentic: "Make it easier for yourselves, and it is better for the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah ." It was narrated by al-Bukhari as a suspended narration with a form of certainty. See (al-Fath 3/365, Book of Zakah 24, Chapter 33: Display in Zakah). And the Hafiz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It is to Tawus with a sound chain in Zakah." But he did not hear from Mu'adh , so it is a broken chain (Tughliq al-Ta'liq 3/12-13, ed.: al-Maktab al-Islami). And based on the saying of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in (Majmu' al-Fatawa) regarding paying out the value in zakah and expiations: "The most apparent in this is that paying out the value without need, and without a stronger benefit, is prohibited. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) estimated the compensation with two sheep, or twenty dirhams, and did not resort to the value. And because if paying out the value is permitted absolutely, the owner may resort to inferior types, and harm may occur in the valuation. And because zakah is based on equality, and this is considered in the amount of the wealth and its type. But as for paying out the value for need, benefit, or justice, there is no harm with it." (Majmu' 25/82-83). It is known to the honorable scholars that the door of alms is wider than the door of zakah, and Allah knows best. These are some of the matters and elements that led the Committee to what we mentioned above of selling the clothes and placing their value in the door of alms, which
originally returns to the poor and the needy in a form we considered more effective and faster. Knowing that we inform the donors, to the extent of our ability, that we sell these clothes and distribute the money to the poor and the needy. And this, and we ask Allah to guide you to what He loves and is pleased with.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it answered that if the donated clothes were specified for certain people, they are to be given to them as they are, and it is not permissible for the Committee to sell them. And if those clothes are for unspecified people and the Committee sees that selling them is better, it may do what is better.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.