Is it permissible to spend zakah on general public interests?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Does the narrator’s statement, “and he paid the ransom with one hundred camels from the zakah camels,” provide evidence for the permissibility of spending zakah on general public interests? Also, does the saying of the Exalted, “and in the cause of Allah,” indicate this, since every general public interest that benefits the Muslims is in the cause of Allah?
Answer:
This is within the authority of the one in authority. It is the one in authority who manages the public treasury, including the zakah and revenues, and spends it on the interests of the Muslims. This is his responsibility and authority. As for us, we have no say in saying, “This is in the cause of Allah, so spend it from our side.” No, yes.
Does the narrator’s statement, “and he paid the ransom with one hundred camels from the zakah camels,” provide evidence for the permissibility of spending zakah on general public interests? Also, does the saying of the Exalted, “and in the cause of Allah,” indicate this, since every general public interest that benefits the Muslims is in the cause of Allah?
Answer:
This is within the authority of the one in authority. It is the one in authority who manages the public treasury, including the zakah and revenues, and spends it on the interests of the Muslims. This is his responsibility and authority. As for us, we have no say in saying, “This is in the cause of Allah, so spend it from our side.” No, yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يجوز صرف الزكاة في المصالح العامة؟ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.