Is it permissible to build a school from zakah funds?

The questioner : Well, there is a question I do not know if the brothers directed to the Shaykh, I do not know if they have received an answer yet or not. It is that one of the brothers donated a large sum of money and directed it.
Al-Halabi : I asked our Shaykh about it and mentioned the answer to them, but in the recording it will be more impactful on the hearts, O our Shaykh.

The questioner : One of the brothers donated a large sum of money to one of the brothers residing there in America to build a school. This brother asked him after he received the money from him, saying, "What is this money? Is it zakah money?" He said, "Yes." Then he said, "We cannot use it to build a school." He asked, "Why? Many scholars say that your work there is jihad, because you are building a school in the lands of disbelief, and this is a form of jihad, meaning jihad against the disbelievers, by which you spread the correct Islam and the correct creed in those lands. So what is your answer to this?"

The Shaykh : The answer is clear in the categories of expenditure mentioned by Allah in the verse regarding the destinations of zakah . Jihad is not intended in its broad, comprehensive sense, which is the view of most scholars, that it refers to jihad against the disbelievers, i.e., fighting them, and what that necessitates, such as preparing weapons and strength, and so on. The most that has been said regarding expanding the meaning of is the statement of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) that it is permissible to give zakah to one who wants to perform Hajj to the House of Allah. As for the broad, comprehensive meaning that includes all paths of good, as many preachers today lean toward, and some of them may be scholars, then in my belief, first, this is a statement of a latecomer that no scholar of the Salaf, whether they were exegetes or jurists, said. It became famous through a man among the well-known exegetes who is known to be from the Mu'tazilah, and he is known as Muslim al-Asbahani. He is the one who expanded the meaning of "in the cause of Allah" to include all paths of good and good deeds. This is the first point, and in summary, it is an innovated interpretation that has no basis in the reports of the Salaf. The second thing is that I see that this expansion of the meaning of "in the cause of Allah" contradicts the tool of restriction that began the eight categories when the Exalted said . If "in the cause of Allah" included all these types, there would be no benefit worth mentioning in this detail mentioned by Allah the Glorious and Exalted, especially when the tool of restriction came before them. Therefore, we advise those in charge of the associations called today charitable associations that they must have two funds: a fund specifically for what comes to them in the name of zakah, which is distributed in one of the destinations of zakah, and another fund for general charity, which is distributed in general charitable works. This is what we hold Allah to be. And for that reason, we have never heard, despite the many endowments that Muslims used to establish in the past, whether for building mosques or schools or hostels, as they were called in some later times, from zakah funds, but rather they were from general charitable funds. This is my belief in this issue.

The questioner : Now, many committees print publications for the promotion of the committees from zakah funds, and stickers and other things.

The Shaykh : Without a doubt, these do not have the second fund, and this is the problem.