The ruling on the zakah of the funds of a cooperative association for assisting the needy

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: We are a group of people who agreed to establish a cooperative association to help the afflicted and the needy. We have accumulated approximately eighty thousand, and a lunar year has passed over it. Is zakah due on this amount? And if zakah is due, may it be distributed to one of the members of the association if he is among those eligible for zakah, given that this person pays a monthly amount of fifty riyals?

Answer:
The money collected to assist the needy is not subject to zakah, because it is for zakah; its destination is the zakah category for the needy. Therefore, no zakah is due on it, even if a lunar year has passed. Yes. The end. May Allah make it good. And Allah the Exalted knows best, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family.