Home » Hanafi Fiqh » Darulifta-Deoband.com » Can we use zakah to fund educational expenses for needy students on merit?

Can we use zakah to fund educational expenses for needy students on merit?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Darulifta-Deoband.com
My friends and I are planning to set up a scholarship which will grant scholarships for deserving needy students who cannot afford higher education e.g. post graduate studies. We aim to select such students on merit and then pay all their studies and personal expenses for the period till they complete their courses. Please let me know if this is a permissible use of zakah? Also please let me know what type of educational expenses can be funded by zakah, for needy students?

Answer

(Fatwa: 310/252/D=1433)

The person whom the amount of zakah is given should be poor and entitled to receive zakah and the zakah amount should be given in his hand, though he is a student or any illiterate person, or getting Islamic knowledge or English education or learning any handicraft. The condition is that he should be poor. However, it is better to give it to some pious person or one who is getting Islamic knowledge. However, it is not good to receive zakah from others in order to give scholarship, hence it should be avoided.

Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best

Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband

This answer was collected from the official ifta website of Darul Uloom Deoband in India.

Read answers with similar topics: