Paying Zakah to Charitable Organizations

Question:
Or to anything else. The four are important for giving to the brother and the administrator who delivers it, whether by hand or by effort.

Answer:
As for giving it to a trustworthy man who takes charge of distributing it, there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with it. It is permissible to appoint an agent for paying out zakah or distributing zakah. It is permissible to appoint an agent. As for giving it to an organization, organizations are not regulated. Who is responsible for them? A large company, who is responsible for it?
So one’s conscience is not cleared by paying it to an organization, because a person does not trust that it will reach those who are entitled to it. Because the organization has several people and several managers and several projects, so it is not known where the zakah goes. As for donations, there is no harm in giving from the donations if it is verified that they spend it in the causes of good. There is no harm in giving a donation. But zakah is a trust. It is a trust that is not given except to a trustworthy person who takes the place of the owner in distributing it. So in organizations, there is no one who can guarantee all the zakah of the people that is collected with them. This is difficult. And being a group, they rely on each other, each one relying on the other. Or there may be people among them who are not trustworthy. Or they put it in projects in which zakah is not suitable, even building mosques. Zakah is not suitable for mosques. Mosques are the most noble of the houses of Allah. The most noble thing. Zakah is not suitable for it.
Because Allah restricted it to only eight categories. So what about other projects? Building schools or digging wells, none of this is what zakah is spent on. Or building shelters or hospitals. None of this is what zakah is spent on. Donations are spent on these. Most of the work of organizations is projects. Projects. Yes.