Zakah: Expenditure - are these
legitimate zakah expenses?
Q721 :My brother who used to be a zakah-payer sent
his son abroad for higher education. However, the rising cost of
education had stretched his means. He is now borrowing money in order
to pay his son. I do not know whether my brother is still a
zakah-payer. Can I help him or his son to meet his educational expenses
and set off some of his loans against my zakah liability? Which is
better from the Islamic point of view: to give zakah to my brother or
his son for the completion of his study, or to give to other relatives
who are poorer than my brother? May I also ask whether it is
permissible to use zakah money for the construction of a mosque or the
renovation of an existing one.
A721 : It is perfectly possible that a zakah-payer
encounters difficulties and loses much of his money or his means of
income, which eventually may turn him into a zakah-recipient. The fact
that he used to be a zakah-payer should not prevent us from assessing
his situation in the light of his new circumstances. Once it is
established that he belongs to any class of beneficiaries of zakah, he
should be helped. We must not forget that the zakah system is meant as
a system of mutual social security. Therefore, if you brother's means
have changed so markedly to make him one who is entitled to be given
zakah, you should pay your zakah to him, because paying zakah to a
close relative is preferable to giving it to other people. I am
intrigued by your statement that you do not know whether he is still a
zakah-payer or not. A person who qualifies to pay zakah is someone who
owns more than the threshold of zakah and continued to own that
threshold for a year. If your brother is in that position, he should
not find it difficult to pay for the education of his son. If the costs
of such education are too high for him, then he could not be in the
position of a zakah-payer. You have first of all to be absolutely
certain of the facts before you can decide whether to pay him your
zakah or not. What I can tell you is that a person who has incurred
debts which he finds too difficult to settle is a beneficiary of zakah.
We can classify in this position a person who has a good job and a
decent income, but also has very heavy commitments which make his
income insufficient to meet his needs. If such a person has incurred
some debts and finds it so difficult to settle them, he is to be helped
by zakah. Similarly, a person who has not incurred any debts but whose
income is less than what is reasonable to meet his needs is also a
zakah beneficiary. Let me explain a point of detail. Two government
employees may be of the same grade and receive the same salary. Suppose
that neither of them has any additional income. Still, one of them may
be a zakah-payer and the other may legitimately be a zakah-recipient.
The first would be one who has a very reasonable commitment. He may
have inherited the house in which he lives with his wife. They may not
have any children. As such their expenses are of a reasonable standard
and the man is able to save a part of his salary every month. The other
person lives in rental accommodation and has a large family. He may
also be looking after elderly parents. As such, his income falls far
short of meeting his expenses. He deserves to be helped with zakah
money. Another criterion to be considered is that a person who is
pursuing studies and has no income of his own may be helped with zakah
money until he finishes his studies. In order to understand the wisdom
behind that we should remember that when such a student completes his
study he is able to benefit the community and himself. This applies to
your nephew who does not seem to have any source of income of his own.
You may help him directly with his expenses. What you have to ensure,
however, is that your nephew is a serious student who is trying his
best to finish his studies as soon as possible. Moreover, you have to
consider how much does he need to have the higher degree he is studying
for. Is it so important that he pursues his education to get a proper
job? Or is it something that would give the family some pride? You may
certainly have to balance these situations and determine whether to
help your brother or his son. You may consider taking over your
nephew's education, if you have the means to do so, and consider that
you will be able thus to help your brother and help your nephew to
finish his studies more quickly. In considering to whom you pay your
zakah, you should bear in mind that the closer the poor relatives are,
the more entitled they are to be helped. The only point to remember is
that you do not give zakah to a relative who is entitled to receive
support from you. Thus you cannot pay your zakah to your poor parents
or poor children or to your poor wife. A brother or a grown-up nephew
are not entitled to receive your support by right. Therefore, you may
help them with your zakah. What I have to say after having explained
all these considerations is that your brother's case should be
considered on its merits, with due regard to all respects. I have
touched on some of these. You have to study it very carefully to find
out how much help your brother or his son needs. If you determine that
your brother is now in a position of being a zakah beneficiary, you
should go ahead and help him with your zakah. Having said that, I
should add that you could help your brother even if he is not a zakah
beneficiary. That help must not come from zakah. Let us not forget that
zakah is what Allah has prescribed as a minimum amount of help which we
have to give to others. If we go beyond that, the scope is wide. We can
choose whom to help and how to help them. You should consider helping
your nephew or your brother with an open mind not restricting yourself
to zakah. As for your question about using zakah money to build a
mosque, I remind you of the Hadith which states that Allah has not left
the determination of how zakah should be spent to His messenger or to
an angel commanding a high position. He ruled on its distribution
Himself. He has told us that zakah is payable to eight classes of
people. Building mosques or renovating them is not one of the purposes
of zakah. Therefore, zakah money cannot be spent for this purpose.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News - Jeddah )