Is it permissible to build mosques and spend on da'wah workers and other things from the funds of zakah?

The questioner : Is it permissible to build mosques in lands of disbelief from the funds of zakah? And is it permissible to build mosques in poor Islamic lands if it is impossible for a government capable of building them from the funds of zakah to exist? The other part of the question is also: Is it permissible to spend from the funds of zakah on volunteer da'wah workers, whether in lands of disbelief or in poor Islamic lands?

The Shaykh : What we believe as an answer to this question, which contains more than one question, is that the categories of zakah are explicitly stated in the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and among those categories mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, there is nothing that indicates the permissibility of spending the obligatory zakah funds on building mosques, whether the construction is in Islamic lands or elsewhere. I know that some people today hold the view that this is permissible, and they have two bases for this:
The first basis is their look at His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): ; where they looked at the fact that its meaning is broader than "in the cause of Allah" in this Qur'anic text being jihad, which is fighting the enemies, and that the other established meaning in the Sunnah is that Hajj is also in the cause of Allah, as established in "Sunan Abu Dawud," "Musnad Imam Ahmad," and others. Some Islamic writers today looked at the phrase: as having a meaning broader than the two meanings mentioned previously, and they said: Anything that is in obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), it is permissible to spend zakah money on it. We do not see this broad opinion for two reasons that I will mention, but after I mention the other basis of those people; which is that they see that Muslims today, unfortunately, have lacked the Muslim state, which it is obligatory for it to carry out everything that helps the Ummah to preserve its religion, its rituals, and its acts of worship; because they lacked that, they saw the expansion of the meaning of so that Muslims can achieve what they missed due to the absence of the Muslim state through this expansion in the category of zakah; which is his saying: . I personally do not see this for the following reasons:
First – and I say this in many of my words and lectures –: We claim belonging to the Salaf al-Salih (the Pious Predecessors), and this is for an important matter that I believe anyone who understands it has no choice but to be Salafi in inclination and methodology. We belong to the Salaf al-Salih because they are the first generation who received Islam as Book and Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in wording and meaning, and then they are the ones who applied it and made it their path and methodology in their lives. We do not know of them that they expanded in the interpretation of: that expansion. Rather, most of them mentioned that "the cause" here is jihad in the cause of Allah and fighting the enemies of Allah, and some of them expanded it to include, as we mentioned earlier, Hajj, as came in a hadith in "Sunan Abu Dawud" and others, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he performed the Farewell Pilgrimage and returned from his Hajj, a woman came to him, I think she is known as Umm Talq, and she said: O Messenger of Allah, my husband Abu Talq performed Hajj and he had that camel, and he did not carry me on it. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) sent for Abu Talq and mentioned his wife's complaint against him. He said: O Messenger of Allah, I had prepared it in the cause of Allah. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So Imam Ahmad and others took from this hadith and included in His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the categories of zakah: , after jihad, also taking to the House of Allah (Hajj) for whoever needs that money. But beyond this meaning, we did not find mention of it in the Salaf of the Ummah, neither in saying and explaining the verse, nor in implementing and applying it in their spending of zakah funds on such charitable projects; therefore, I do not see the expansion in this blessed phrase.
The other reason is that it seems to me – and although it may not be right for me to mention this considering that the issue is an Arab issue, and I do not forget my origin, I am an Albanian, and it may be as they say: "blood is treacherous" – I say: that the understanding of this phrase after enumerating most of the categories does not correspond to the eloquence and rhetoric by which the Noble Qur'an is known; especially since these types were mentioned with the tool of restriction: and so on, , . If was intended to have the broader, more comprehensive meaning, then this enumeration would have no point in what we understand from the Arabic language; therefore, I say, if I am Albanian by race, I am Salafi in principle and creed, so protection from falling into deviation is my methodology, not my lineage.

Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The questioner : The Arabic is in the tongue, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Then, and this is a very weak hadith.

The questioner : No, no, I did not say it on that basis.

The Shaykh : I did not say it, correct, but for those who do not know.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Correct, but it is a piece of a hadith.

The questioner : Okay; Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And when you say it, some may notice that this is a piece of a hadith, and he does not know that this hadith is not authentic. And I was on alert to your saying: "The Arabic is in the tongue," I did not say: "The Messenger of Allah said," but so that some do not be deceived, I wanted to point this out. And this actually reminds me of something that happened to some of our brothers in Syria, and one thing reminds of another, especially if there is a lesson for whoever takes heed or will take heed.
Some of them wrote a book and naturally mentioned many hadiths in it, so he asked me to trace these hadiths to their sources, so I responded to him in the spirit of cooperation in righteousness and piety. And I was surprised to find that the man had printed the book, and every hadith that I had weakened after tracing it, he deleted the tracing and the weakening, and he deleted his saying before the hadith: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," but he placed the hadith between crescents only, he placed the hadith between crescents which makes the reader feel that this is a hadith you know, but he did not say: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said." So his deception by placing the hadith between crescents makes the reader feel that this is a well-known hadith, so in his opinion, from his side, it is more persuasive, what? Religious caution, of course. He did not lie about the Messenger or attribute to him anything that is not established, but from the second aspect, he preserved the value of this phrase; because he placed it between crescents, and this value for the reader comes from where? From their hearing of this Prophetic phrase; therefore, I am very cautious that something that is not from the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) slips into the tongue of some readers or some listeners.
In summary: It is not established that the Salaf expanded it in this broad sense. Furthermore, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) restricted these to the eight known categories, which invalidates this expansion. Otherwise, there would be no point in mentioning these eight categories; it would have been sufficient to say: "Charity is only in the cause of Allah," and this meaning would then be the same as the meaning that came in another hadith, namely the hadith of Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah. He said: "We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when a young, strong man passed by. We mentioned his strength and vigor, and we said: 'If this man were in the cause of Allah' (meaning his vigor and youth were in the cause of Allah). He said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So it is true that 'in the cause of Allah' can carry the broader meaning, but in the verse it does not carry this broader meaning. Therefore, we do not see it as permissible to allocate this zakah for building mosques, whether in Islamic lands or in non-Islamic lands. Then, what I actually see is that these fatwas are issued to compensate for the shortcoming of wealthy Muslims. They are stingy with their money and do not spend it on charitable projects, while its reward and duration remain for them until the Day of Resurrection, as came in the authentic hadith: . So ongoing charity is a very broad door. Among its forms, as came in a hadith with some length in "Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah": . These are also among the ongoing charities. When wealthy Muslims were stingy and withheld their money from spending it on these charitable projects from their voluntary wealth, not the obligatory, and some people today wanted to compensate for this shortcoming in the land of Islam, they expanded the meaning of , including in it the building of mosques, schools, hospitals, and the like. And we say:
"Sa'd brought them in, and Sa'd was wrapped up *** This is not how, O Sa'd, you lead in the camels"
The solution is not to change the solid Islamic concepts that the later generations inherited from the earlier ones in order to address a problem that occurred among Muslims due to some of them falling short in performing what Allah obligated upon them of zakah and other charitable acts. The solution is not to come to these texts and change them. Rather, the solution is to remind these wealthy people of what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has bestowed upon them, and that they should give thanks for these blessings, as He (the Exalted) said: .