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Can we give zakat to disaster recovery efforts

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Can we pay zakat money to charities for the purpose of disaster relief efforts such as the recent earthquake in South Asia or the tsunami in South East Asia last year.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits.

It is very important for Muslims to assist those in need. In fact, it is a communal obligation (fard kifaya) to do so. And we know from the texts of the Qur’an and Sunna that the best of charity is the charity given to those most needy, and the charity that has most benefit.

However, zakat is a specific kind of charity, with specific conditions. Allah Most High told us of some of these conditions in the 61st verse of Surat al-Tawba:

[Obligatory] charity is only for the poor and needy, those who work to collect them, those whose hearts are brought together, the ransoming of slaves, debtors, in God’s way, and the traveller; so God ordains; God is All-knowing, All-wise.

The underlying condition for zakat, thus, is that there must be a transfer of ownership of the funds to someone poor or needy.

There are many ways this can be done practically in relief and charity work. However, it requires that:

(a) the agency deal with zakat funds separately;

(b) and that they discharge them carefully in accordance with the sound and established dictates of mainstream Islamic scholarship.

One should be aware that many charities–though well-meaning–follow unfortunate fatwas of modernist scholars on zakat matters that are at variance with sound scholarship. Following such fatwas diminishes the baraka in their efforts; and would not be a sound discharging of the duty of zakat.

Thus, it is permitted to give zakat to relief efforts if the funds will be used in a sound manner.

We should hold our noble brothers and sisters involved in fulfilling this great communal responsibility of assisting those in need responsible for discharging zakat funds properly. If enough people insist, with excellence and in a spirit of sincere counsel, then change will come. And it will be a change for the better–for them, for those giving zakat, and for those receiving it.

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

SunniPath QA (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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