Q: I have put a box in my cupboard in which I put the sadaqa amount and when a considerable amount gets together, I give them in charity. I have told my friends about it and they also sometimes contribute in it. The method I adopt regarding charity is that I visit a near by area where mostly poor people live. Then I search for those who are apparently religious as well as needy. The standard of needy that I look at is that one who is apparently really suffering to make both ends meet though he has a fruit stall or an animal like donkey for picking loads for people and carrying them elsewhere. I know that there must be much more needy ones but with this methodology, is my sadqa discharged properly because I think that giving to charity organization may be better but doing so one does not get the real feeling of the poor which one gets by searching them. So I prefer this method.
A: Yes, it is discharged.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)