Giving Charity to Disbeliever Prisoners
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Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace 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 His Excellency the Director General of Prisons, Major General Dr. Ali ibn Husayn al-Harthy , reference number (11/026248), dated 4/4/1431 AH, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Senior Scholars’ Bureau.
with reference number (508) and dated 7/4/1431 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is as follows: It is not hidden from your eminence that the people of virtue and generosity in this blessed country are providing aid, charity, and zakah to alleviate the distress of the afflicted, meet the needs of the needy, and pay off the debts of those in financial difficulty. We have received amounts from this source to settle the debts of prisoners in private rights cases and release them, so that they may be reunited with their families. Arrangements have been made for this, and a committee has been formed in the prisons to oversee such activities. Since there are prisoners in the prisons who have financial rights and debts for various reasons, and they are non-Muslims, and the duration of some of their imprisonment may be prolonged over small amounts, the committee needs clarification of the Shari'ah ruling regarding the possibility of paying their debts from the donated funds, which are mostly zakah, especially since paying their debts will result in their release from prison and their deportation to their countries. Therefore, we hope to be provided with a written Shari'ah ruling on this matter.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it responded: It is not permissible to give zakah to prisoners who are disbelievers; due to the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Mu'adh :Riyad as-Salihin 1208. He said in al-Mughni: (We do not know among the people of
There is no harm in helping them from other sources, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Mumtahanah 60:8] .
with reference number (508) and dated 7/4/1431 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is as follows: It is not hidden from your eminence that the people of virtue and generosity in this blessed country are providing aid, charity, and zakah to alleviate the distress of the afflicted, meet the needs of the needy, and pay off the debts of those in financial difficulty. We have received amounts from this source to settle the debts of prisoners in private rights cases and release them, so that they may be reunited with their families. Arrangements have been made for this, and a committee has been formed in the prisons to oversee such activities. Since there are prisoners in the prisons who have financial rights and debts for various reasons, and they are non-Muslims, and the duration of some of their imprisonment may be prolonged over small amounts, the committee needs clarification of the Shari'ah ruling regarding the possibility of paying their debts from the donated funds, which are mostly zakah, especially since paying their debts will result in their release from prison and their deportation to their countries. Therefore, we hope to be provided with a written Shari'ah ruling on this matter.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it responded: It is not permissible to give zakah to prisoners who are disbelievers; due to the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Mu'adh :
tell them that Allah has made the payment of Zakat obligatory upon them. It should be collected from their rich and distributed among their poor.
أعلمهم أن عليهم صدقة تؤخذ من أغنيائهم وترد على فقرائهمThere is no harm in helping them from other sources, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.
لاَ يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُمْ مِنْ دِيَارِكُمْ أَنْ تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.