Is it permissible to give voluntary charity from a poor quality of wealth?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : My master, charity on goods is, meaning, in the possession of the merchant. Of course, he has paid his zakah, two and a half percent on the profits.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : Or the amount he has in some of the goods, meaning, they are not moving for him, meaning there is stagnation in them, or stock, for example, it is considered stock, but of course, the stock should not be bad; it should be, for example, out of season.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : Is it permissible to give charity with these? But they are, meaning, good; the poor person considers them something not presentable, like selling shoes, for example.
The Shaykh : Understood. The answer, in terms of permissibility, is that it is permissible, but it is not preferred.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because Allah says:[Al-Baqarah 2:267]. This verse, of course, was revealed regarding dates. Dates, as you know, have varieties. So one of them would take the poor quality dates and give them in charity, so Allah the Exalted revealed this verse to educate them.
The questioner : Yes.
The questioner : Meaning, a person must elevate himself and purify himself from material things as much as possible, and share with his poor brothers in good food, or good clothing, or anything intended for charity. This is what is best. But is it permissible? It is permissible without a doubt, for giving this zakah from this type is better than nothing, without a doubt. But better than that is to give from what is better than it. This is the answer:
The questioner :[Ali 'Imran 3:92] .
The Shaykh, Yes.
The questioner : Regarding the matter of companies and what is in their balance sheets that may or may not be there, there are also accounting methods followed and accepted in the world of companies, and practiced in all countries. For example, it is calculated there... with assets at a certain percentage per year, meaning, after five or ten years, if you have a factory, it is considered as if it does not exist from a financial perspective. Naturally, it exists, and conversely... perhaps regarding matters of zakah, these accounting methods are not heeded and are not looked at from the perspective of Islam. I would like to see your opinion on them?
The Shaykh : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : Or the amount he has in some of the goods, meaning, they are not moving for him, meaning there is stagnation in them, or stock, for example, it is considered stock, but of course, the stock should not be bad; it should be, for example, out of season.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : Is it permissible to give charity with these? But they are, meaning, good; the poor person considers them something not presentable, like selling shoes, for example.
The Shaykh : Understood. The answer, in terms of permissibility, is that it is permissible, but it is not preferred.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Because Allah says:
And do not aim toward the defective therefrom, spending
وَلا تَيَمَّمُوا الْخَبِيثَ تُنفِقُونَ منهThe questioner : Yes.
The questioner : Meaning, a person must elevate himself and purify himself from material things as much as possible, and share with his poor brothers in good food, or good clothing, or anything intended for charity. This is what is best. But is it permissible? It is permissible without a doubt, for giving this zakah from this type is better than nothing, without a doubt. But better than that is to give from what is better than it. This is the answer:
The questioner :
Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah] from that which you love
لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَThe Shaykh
from what you love
مما تحبونThe questioner : Regarding the matter of companies and what is in their balance sheets that may or may not be there, there are also accounting methods followed and accepted in the world of companies, and practiced in all countries. For example, it is calculated there... with assets at a certain percentage per year, meaning, after five or ten years, if you have a factory, it is considered as if it does not exist from a financial perspective. Naturally, it exists, and conversely... perhaps regarding matters of zakah, these accounting methods are not heeded and are not looked at from the perspective of Islam. I would like to see your opinion on them?
The Shaykh : ... .
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.