The Ruling on Giving Zakah to Sinners Who Put Tents on Their Roofs and Claim Poverty
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. The strong sinner, like those who put tents on their roofs and claim poverty and demand some of the zakah, what is our position toward them, Shaykh Salim?
The Shaykh:
The poor Muslim is given from the zakah, even if he is the most sinful.
The presenter:
O Allah, send blessings.
The Shaykh:
Unless it is known that he uses this zakah to commit sin, in which case it is not permissible to give it to him. But if it is not known, and he is poor, and he has not left the fold of Islam, then he is among those entitled to zakah. Yes.
The questioner:
It is not known where he spends what he is given of the zakah.
The Shaykh:
If you do not know, you are not responsible for his responsibility.
The presenter:
Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh:
If you know that he spends it in sins, it is not permissible for you to give to his family, because you would be cooperating with him in sin and transgression.
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. The strong sinner, like those who put tents on their roofs and claim poverty and demand some of the zakah, what is our position toward them, Shaykh Salim?
The Shaykh:
The poor Muslim is given from the zakah, even if he is the most sinful.
The presenter:
O Allah, send blessings.
The Shaykh:
Unless it is known that he uses this zakah to commit sin, in which case it is not permissible to give it to him. But if it is not known, and he is poor, and he has not left the fold of Islam, then he is among those entitled to zakah. Yes.
The questioner:
It is not known where he spends what he is given of the zakah.
The Shaykh:
If you do not know, you are not responsible for his responsibility.
The presenter:
Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh:
If you know that he spends it in sins, it is not permissible for you to give to his family, because you would be cooperating with him in sin and transgression.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، أصاحب المعاصي كأولئك الذين وضعوا الدشوش على بيوتهم ويدعون الفقر، ويطالبون بالزكاة، ما موقفنا أمامهم؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.