The ruling on the imam withholding people's zakah and distributing it monthly to the poor
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: An imam of a mosque is given the zakah of some people to deliver it to poor people he knows. This imam takes it and keeps it with him for a long period, treating it as monthly salaries for the poor people he knows. Is this action permissible for him?
Answer:
No, this action is not permissible for him. He may distribute it at its proper time, but he must not withhold it; because the payment of zakah is due immediately when it becomes obligatory, and it must not be withheld from the poor.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: An imam of a mosque is given the zakah of some people to deliver it to poor people he knows. This imam takes it and keeps it with him for a long period, treating it as monthly salaries for the poor people he knows. Is this action permissible for him?
Answer:
No, this action is not permissible for him. He may distribute it at its proper time, but he must not withhold it; because the payment of zakah is due immediately when it becomes obligatory, and it must not be withheld from the poor.
Source
المنتقى من أخبار سيد المرسلين 25-01-1437هـ — alfawzan.live (37:42)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.