In the previous session, I mentioned that it is permissible to give zakah to Muslim female domestic workers in the home. Is it valid for us to purchase their needs from the zakah we have given them?
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The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : In the previous session, I mentioned that it is permissible to give zakah to Muslim female domestic workers in the home. Is it valid for us to purchase her needs from the zakah we have given her? Please note that the one who gave the zakah is one of the people with whom this worker lives. Likewise, regarding the workers who are with a person, is it permissible for him to buy for them from the zakah, such as clothing and other things, and intend it to be from the zakah, or what is the ruling?
The Shaykh : It is not permissible to give a poor person what he needs in the form of money from the zakah. For example, if he has one hundred riyals of zakah, it is not permissible to buy for the poor person with it food, clothing, or medicine. Rather, he gives the money to the poor person, and the poor person disposes of it as he wishes, because giving for the sake of poverty requires transferring ownership, as Allah the Exalted said:[At-Tawbah 9:60] Therefore, it is not permissible for a person, if he wants to give a worker from the zakah, to buy for her with it a need. Rather, he gives it to her, and she disposes of it as she wishes. Likewise for the workers, and likewise for the poor foreigners who are not in the house; it is not permissible to buy for them a need, but rather he gives them the zakah, and they dispose of it as they wish.
The questioner : ... I gave him an amount.
The Shaykh : There is no harm, but I gave him the money.
The questioner : He gave him the money to buy a specific need...
The Shaykh : There is no harm, there is no obstacle. The important thing is that you give him the money. For example, even if he said to you, "I need such and such," and you had zakah, and he said, "Buy for me with your zakah this thing that I need," there is no harm in his buying it for him, because he has become his agent. Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not permissible to give a poor person what he needs in the form of money from the zakah. For example, if he has one hundred riyals of zakah, it is not permissible to buy for the poor person with it food, clothing, or medicine. Rather, he gives the money to the poor person, and the poor person disposes of it as he wishes, because giving for the sake of poverty requires transferring ownership, as Allah the Exalted said:
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy
إنما الصدقات للفقراء والمساكينThe questioner : ... I gave him an amount.
The Shaykh : There is no harm, but I gave him the money.
The questioner : He gave him the money to buy a specific need...
The Shaykh : There is no harm, there is no obstacle. The important thing is that you give him the money. For example, even if he said to you, "I need such and such," and you had zakah, and he said, "Buy for me with your zakah this thing that I need," there is no harm in his buying it for him, because he has become his agent. Yes.