Zakah: Payment as help to
dependents
Q727 :My father is about to retire, but his pension
is hardly sufficient to pay for his own expenses and those of his
family. Moreover, he has a loan to repay over a long period of time.
That gives him much worry. As his daughter, can I pay him monthly from
our zakah money, either to repay his loan or to support his
family?
A727 : Your desire to help your father is
commendable. It is indeed the sort of attitude which Islam develops in
children towards their parents. The relationship Islam establishes
between parent and child is too well defined to leave the question of
financial help in situation of need to personal preferences or within
voluntary actions. When a child is young, needing every type of help,
his parents must bring him up and look after him well. They should
provide him with food, clothing and shelter of a decent standard,
according to their means. Although Allah rewards parents for taking
good care of their children, parents cannot dodge their responsibility.
They cannot hold it as a favor that they bring up their children, it is
their duty. Similarly, when either or both parents are old and they do
not have an income sufficient to meet their needs, it is the
responsibility of their grown-up children to look after them and pay
for their needs. They do not do this as a favor but in fulfillment of a
duty imposed on them by none other than Allah. If they fail to look
after their parents, Allah will question them about their failure and
may punish them severely for that. The guiding principle in all this is
that "Allah does not charge any soul with more than it can tolerably
bear". Since your father has more commitments than can be possibly met
by his pension, therefore it is the responsibility of his grown-up
children to supplement his income to enable him to lead a comfortable
life. This duty is incumbent on all his children who are working or
able to work, according to their means. So, if you have brothers and
sisters, you should join with them in looking after your father. It may
be that some or all of your brothers and sisters do not enjoy the sort
of circumstances you do. It may be that they have heavy commitments or
a modest income. In such a situation, you may have to bear the largest
share of the help your father needs. That should not disappoint you in
any way, because to have the chance of helping one's parents is indeed
a privilege and an honor. Moreover, it earns generous reward from
Allah. In short, you should look at your father's situation and
determine the best way of helping him. If you are the only daughter of
his who can help him, then you have to undertake that help yourself.
There is a general rule which governs the payment of zakah to its
beneficiaries. No one may pay zakah to a poor relative who qualifies as
beneficiary, if that relative is entitled to be supported by the zakah
payer. This means that a man may not pay zakah to his poor wife or his
poor children, although they may be grown-ups. This is due to the fact
that his wife and children are entitled to receive his help. This is
his duty which he cannot shirk-off. Similarly, a poor parent must be
looked after by his children. As such, they cannot pay him their zakah.
If they do, then they are actually paying zakah to themselves in order
to reduce their own liabilities. This cannot be done. Having said
that, I should add that this applies to you personally, not to your
husband. If both you and your husband are zakah payers, you may not pay
your zakah to your father, but your husband may do so. The reason is
that your husband is not required by way of duty to help your father.
Hence, if he pays him his zakah, he is not benefiting in any way. It
may be that you do not wish to involve your husband in helping your
father. This is commendable. However, this places on you the duty of
looking after your father properly. May Allah help and reward you for
that.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News - Jeddah )