"Afaaq" is a charity that provides loans and grants to poor university students, cash and in kind assistance to poor families and supplementary tuition to school students. Is it permissible to give Zakah to this organization for this purpose?
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds.
It is permissible to delegate a particular charity or person to deliver one`s Zakah to the poor. Thus, there is nothing with authorizing the head of the above charity to distribute the Zakah funds amongst university students to pay for tuition fees or educational expenses, or amongst the poor families and other eligible recipients of Zakah.
Undoubtedly, there is a great reward for giving Zakah to this eligible category as doing so helps disseminate beneficial knowledge.
Kindly refer to Fatwa No. (2847)* for further details about the conditions of giving Zakah to poor students. And Allah the Almighty knows best.
*This paragraph was added on December 2nd, 2015.