Is it permissible for students of knowledge to take from the zakat of wealth when they do not need it?

The Shaykh : We ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to inspire us to act according to the law of our religion and to unite our hearts among ourselves. Just now, I was given some questions, and we spoke about a question while we were on our way to this place, so there is no need to answer that question now. I have some questions remaining, and then, to the extent that time allows us, we will answer, if Allah wills, whatever may come to us here.
Is it permissible for students of knowledge to take from the zakat of wealth? Like, can they take it or what?
Al-Halabi : Take it.The questioner : Our Shaykh says, is it permissible for students of knowledge to take from the zakat of wealth when they do not need it?

The Shaykh : This is truly an important question, and it draws our attention to a contemporary phenomenon. That is, charitable associations have multiplied among people, and in many neighborhoods or districts, there are associations called charitable associations. I do not deny the legitimacy of these associations in principle, because they fall under the general meaning of the statement of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) This is the verse, yes?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, so I say there is no way to deny such associations, but on the condition that they are established upon the rulings of the Shari'ah. For example, there should be two funds in this association: one fund dedicated to zakat funds, because these funds are not permissible to be spent except for the eight categories. I do not say, as in some schools of jurisprudence, that they must be distributed among all eight, but rather to one of these eight categories of expenditure. This is the first fund. The other fund should be dedicated to voluntary charities, which are from the category of voluntary acts and not zakat of wealth, because this type of charity and endowments and gifts, the administrators of the association can expand in directing them to those who are not among the recipients of zakat, meaning those who are not among the categories of zakat expenditure. So I know that some associations have only one fund, and here confusion and mixing occur, and this is not permissible. So this is something that these associations should observe, or that those in charge of them should observe.
The second thing is that it is not permissible for some people to appoint themselves as heads or administrative officials in these associations, and then, after they have employed themselves in some of these positions, they assign salaries for themselves. And they may interpret this from the statement of Allah the Exalted I say this is a very serious deviation in the present age, because from the established Sunnah in the authentic hadith is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) What is it?
Al-Halabi : Al-Halabi : We do not appoint in our affairs one who seeks it.

The Shaykh : This is part of the system of Islam in positions in general, and especially the position related to finance, the treasury of the Muslims, as they used to say in the past. If the one seeking employment is from the highest authority, which is the Caliph of the Muslims, and he does not appoint him, even though he has the right to appoint whom he wishes, how is it permissible for a Muslim to appoint himself and assign for himself a salary that he cuts from the money of the poor and the needy? Therefore, these associations that exist today, in my opinion, even the international associations, and I mean what I say, most of them are established for the interests of the individual employees therein, and that they eat the money of the poor in the name of working on them. So I say, if there is a Muslim state that rules by what Allah has revealed, much or little, and it has a system of the treasury of the Muslims, then from ruling by what Allah has revealed is employing employees who are worthy of being employees in the treasury of the Muslims. And the first condition is that they be trustworthy, not embezzling the funds that will be under their hands, and they are trustees over them. So if the authority is the one who employs and selects them and sets a salary for them based on the previous verse then there is no harm. But if they come as a group and strive earnestly in the name of forming a charitable association, and they make for it a president and a vice president and I do not know, a distributor, and so on, and each one makes for himself a salary from this money, especially if the salary is from the first fund, the zakat fund, this is a betrayal beyond betrayal. And so the answer, in brief, after this clarification, is that it is not permissible for one who truly believes in Allah and the Last Day to cut for himself money under the claim that he is a student of knowledge. I know that there is a statement from a scholar of the Khalaf, but he is from the followers of the Salaf, who has an opinion that says it is permissible to give students of knowledge, let alone scholars, salaries, even if they are rich. This is his opinion, because he rationalizes it. I say it this way, and the truth is to say he justifies it by saying that the religion does not stand except through these people. But I say, the religion does not stand except through these people, correct, but from their characteristic is how? The verse is .

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Yes. And truly, the people of knowledge will not have the desired impact in the society in which they live and reside unless their calling to Allah is pure for His face (Blessed and Exalted is He), not for the salary. And so I know that some countries where there remains a remnant of Islamic rule and a remnant of noble scholars who care about spreading the call of Islam in the lands of disbelief or the lands of Islam, they employ callers, they call them callers, and they assign them salaries. There is no harm in this if this salary is not from the funds of zakat. But I know and I am aware by my experience that many of these callers are name without body; callers, but they do not understand from Islam except a little. And also, they may not fulfill the duty of the call, and they may immerse themselves in the society they went to, under the claim of reforming it, and so on. So I know that some scholars, and I mean specifically Shaykh Hasan Khan, where he mentioned in his book which I advise every student of knowledge to study and to gain knowledge in, which is called Al-Rawdat al-Nadiyyah Sharh al-Durar al-Bahiyyah, there in the book of zakat, he explicitly states this ruling that it is permissible to give zakat to scholars and students of knowledge, even if they are rich. I say the treasury of the Muslims has multiple sources, ends, and sides. So what is from the obligatory zakat is in one side, as we said today, in a fund, and what is from donations and voluntary charities is in another fund. This other fund, it is permissible for the one in charge, either from the state that still adopts the system of the treasury of the Muslims, so if the state employs some of them and they are sincere in their work, there is no harm in that. Or if we are in some countries where the rule by the system of the treasury of the Muslims has not remained, so one of the effects of that is these charitable associations that stood on their feet.
And exactly like that is collecting donations for building mosques. And I see this also as a contemporary problem, because those who collect donations, I know many of them, and some of them may be my relatives, they make their living from collecting money, and there is no supervisor or guardian over them. So they collect what they wish and take what they wish. And indeed, you find them active, building a mosque here and a mosque there, in this village and that village, and so on. But they have no work; from where do they make their living? From these funds. In this, there is extreme danger.