Supporting orphans through the offices of the Islamic Relief outside the Kingdom: Does the supporter receive the reward of supporting an orphan even if the orphan is not in his home?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, regarding supporting orphans through the offices of the Islamic Relief outside the Kingdom, does the supporter receive the reward of supporting an orphan even if the orphan is not with him in the country? Please note that the offices of the Relief Authority send reports on the orphan's health and educational status, and these offices are branches of the domestic branches, just like our branches here in the country.
The Shaykh : Look, may Allah reward you. All funds intended for the sake of Allah, such as orphan support, charity, and zakah, are better if they are spent domestically, because the domestic area is before you, and you can supervise it and know how it is spent. Do not say, "The domestic area is in abundance," or the like. We know that in the central parts of the Kingdom and in these cities, there is abundance, and praise be to Allah, but in the outskirts of the Kingdom, there is hunger and poverty. This is how we are informed. Therefore, those who are closer are more deserving of kindness, and the fact that you see the matter with your own eyes is better. For this reason, when there was exaggeration in such matters, some people began to say, "Give us the zakat al-fitr to distribute there," or "Give us the udhiyah to slaughter there." This is wrong. The zakat al-fitr is in the country, and the udhiyah is with you and your family. Slaughter it in front of your children so that this great ritual is evident. The purpose of the udhiyah is not the meat.[Al-Hajj 22:37] The most important thing in the udhiyah is to mention the name of Allah over it, slaughter it, and eat from it. Therefore, Allah commanded eating from it and feeding others, and He began with what? He began with feeding, not eating? Do you not memorize the Qur'an? [Al-Hajj 22:28] So He began with eating. For this reason, we see that those who call people to slaughter their udhiyah outside the country are closer to sin than to safety.
The Shaykh : Look, may Allah reward you. All funds intended for the sake of Allah, such as orphan support, charity, and zakah, are better if they are spent domestically, because the domestic area is before you, and you can supervise it and know how it is spent. Do not say, "The domestic area is in abundance," or the like. We know that in the central parts of the Kingdom and in these cities, there is abundance, and praise be to Allah, but in the outskirts of the Kingdom, there is hunger and poverty. This is how we are informed. Therefore, those who are closer are more deserving of kindness, and the fact that you see the matter with your own eyes is better. For this reason, when there was exaggeration in such matters, some people began to say, "Give us the zakat al-fitr to distribute there," or "Give us the udhiyah to slaughter there." This is wrong. The zakat al-fitr is in the country, and the udhiyah is with you and your family. Slaughter it in front of your children so that this great ritual is evident. The purpose of the udhiyah is not the meat.