What is the ruling on spending the obligatory zakah funds on supporting the existing charitable associations dedicated to serving the Book and the Sunnah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : In the question, it falls within the internal regulations of the Book and Sunnah Association.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Many benefactors are concerned with this; they give their zakah, meaning they donate to the association, because this association is dedicated to caring for the sciences of the Noble Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Is it permissible to give a donation from the zakah, meaning from the zakah allocations, as a gift?
The Shaykh: No, it is not permissible.
The questioner : It is not permissible!
The Shaykh : As you know, zakah has its specific channels of expenditure.
The questioner : The eight categories!
The Shaykh : Those specified in the Noble Qur'an, and encouraging the pursuit of knowledge is not among those channels, even though today some contemporary scholars or muftis
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : expand one of the mentioned channels of zakah, which is His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He):[At-Tawbah 9:60].
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But whether they realize it or not—I do not know—they are nullifying the noble Qur'anic text with this expansion, especially since the verse began with a restrictive particle:[At-Tawbah 9:60]. If this restrictive particle had not been specified in the verse, and the verse had simply said: "Charities are for the poor," that would have been sufficient in its arrangement of these eight categories, sufficient to indicate that the word in it: [At-Tawbah 9:60] does not mean all charitable projects. Otherwise, that would contradict Qur'anic eloquence. How so, when it was introduced with a restrictive particle? How so, when no one from the scholars of the Salaf, whether they were exegetes, hadith scholars, or well-known jurists, said that? Therefore, we consider expanding the interpretation of: in this verse beyond the obvious meaning, which is: jihad in the cause of Allah, plus the pilgrimage to the House of Allah the Sacred, because that came in the authentic hadith. As for anything else, no. So, an hour ago, we had some Saudis with us.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Some of them had a lot of money available on the occasion of one of the occasions, and he mentioned that the matter had become mixed between zakah funds and general charities.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The important thing is that we spoke at length on this topic, which is now mentioned on this occasion, that we advise all charitable associations to have two organized funds: a fund for zakah, and another for charities and endowments, and so on. The zakah fund is not to be spent on anything other than what Allah specified in the previous verse.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the other fund, the matter in it is very broad. In this way, if Allah wills, your association will be established.
The questioner : If Allah wills, regarding the brothers who brought them from Bosnia, four hundred and fifty people, and they have more than one opinion, and they need Muslim youth to be employed with them.
The Shaykh : Employed with them?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Employed for what?
The questioner : Volunteering, meaning, to supervise the center, meaning to organize the process of visits and donations and supervise the...
The Shaykh : What do you mean, may Allah bless you, by the center?
The questioner : They are talking about a school center, meaning a place!
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The place where they are located.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : They call it: the center.
The Shaykh : Fine, there is no objection, for the sake of clarification.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Many benefactors are concerned with this; they give their zakah, meaning they donate to the association, because this association is dedicated to caring for the sciences of the Noble Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Is it permissible to give a donation from the zakah, meaning from the zakah allocations, as a gift?
The Shaykh: No, it is not permissible.
The questioner : It is not permissible!
The Shaykh : As you know, zakah has its specific channels of expenditure.
The questioner : The eight categories!
The Shaykh : Those specified in the Noble Qur'an, and encouraging the pursuit of knowledge is not among those channels, even though today some contemporary scholars or muftis
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : expand one of the mentioned channels of zakah, which is His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He):
for the cause of Allah
وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : But whether they realize it or not—I do not know—they are nullifying the noble Qur'anic text with this expansion, especially since the verse began with a restrictive particle:
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy
إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِfor the cause of Allah
وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِin the cause of Allah
سَبِيلِ اللَّهِThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Some of them had a lot of money available on the occasion of one of the occasions, and he mentioned that the matter had become mixed between zakah funds and general charities.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The important thing is that we spoke at length on this topic, which is now mentioned on this occasion, that we advise all charitable associations to have two organized funds: a fund for zakah, and another for charities and endowments, and so on. The zakah fund is not to be spent on anything other than what Allah specified in the previous verse.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the other fund, the matter in it is very broad. In this way, if Allah wills, your association will be established.
The questioner : If Allah wills, regarding the brothers who brought them from Bosnia, four hundred and fifty people, and they have more than one opinion, and they need Muslim youth to be employed with them.
The Shaykh : Employed with them?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Employed for what?
The questioner : Volunteering, meaning, to supervise the center, meaning to organize the process of visits and donations and supervise the...
The Shaykh : What do you mean, may Allah bless you, by the center?
The questioner : They are talking about a school center, meaning a place!
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : The place where they are located.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : They call it: the center.
The Shaykh : Fine, there is no objection, for the sake of clarification.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.