The Ruling on Building Dwellings with Zakah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: A man has one million riyals or more of zakah, and he wants to use this amount to build a number of houses, then give these houses to a group of poor families who are eligible for zakah. Is this action permissible?
Answer:
No, it is not permissible for him to build dwellings with the zakah. Rather, he must distribute the zakah to the eligible recipients at the time it becomes obligatory, and he must not withhold it and say, "I will build dwellings with it." He gives it to them, and they dispose of it as they wish: they eat from it, build with it, or buy their needs with it. He gives it to them, and they dispose of it as they wish. As for withholding it and saying, "I will build structures with it," that is not permissible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner says: A man has one million riyals or more of zakah, and he wants to use this amount to build a number of houses, then give these houses to a group of poor families who are eligible for zakah. Is this action permissible?
Answer:
No, it is not permissible for him to build dwellings with the zakah. Rather, he must distribute the zakah to the eligible recipients at the time it becomes obligatory, and he must not withhold it and say, "I will build dwellings with it." He gives it to them, and they dispose of it as they wish: they eat from it, build with it, or buy their needs with it. He gives it to them, and they dispose of it as they wish. As for withholding it and saying, "I will build structures with it," that is not permissible. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 28 — archive.org (59:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.