Topic: Recipients Of Zakah

[Sami Yusuf Islam]

Brother abou tourab of safeena.org wrote :



RECIPIENTS OF ZAKAH

Zakah is one of the most important matters in Islam. Zakah must be paid to the Muslims among the eight categories of people deserving of Zakah. There are eight categories of people to whom Zakah is given and these are mentioned in the Qur’an in Surat-ut-Tawbah Ayah 60:

إنما الصدقات للفقراء والمساكين والعاملين عليها والمؤلفة قلوبهم وفي الرقاب والغارمين وفي سبيل الله وابن السبيل

In this verse of the Qur’an Allah named eight categories of people who are the recipients of the obligatory Zakah. The eight categories deserving of Zakah are:

1. Those who are poor who earn less than half their basic needs (al-fuqara'); :rdg1

2. Those who are poor who earn half but less than all their basic needs (al-masakin); :rdg1

3. The Zakah workers who are assigned by the caliph to collect the Zakah and do not take a salary for doing that.(al-^amilun ^alayha); :rdg1

4. The new converts to Islam whose hearts are to be reconciled,i.e. they are still not used to the Muslims. They are given from the Zakah for that purpose. (al-mu'allafatu qulubuhum); :rdg1

5. The slaves who are short in satisfying their contract for purchasing their freedom from their owners (ar-riqab); :rdg1

6. Those who are unable to pay their debts (al-gharimun); :rdg1

7. The volunteer fighters who are fighting for the sake of Allah and they are not given a certain salary or payments by the governor to be part of the fighting force. Even if they were rich, those volunteer fighters would be given from Zakah money to help them out in getting prepraed for the fighting.This is the meaning of (fi sabilillah) in the verse (by concensus). It does not refer to just any charitable project because the Prophet said what means:<< there is no right in Zakah for the one who is rich or for the one who is healthy and able to find a job to work>>. This Hadith is related by Abu Dawud and Al-Bayhaqiyy. :rdg1

8. The travellers who do not have enough to enable them to reach their destination (ibn-us-sabil). :rdg1

It is neither permissible nor valid to pay Zakah of one’s money to other than those eight types of people specifically mentioned;:no2  If one pays the Zakah of his money to build a mosque, a hospital, or to build an Islamic school is not a valid Zakah, and the one who pays such an invalid Zakah is still accountable in the Hereafter for not having paid Zakah in a valid manner.Morever, he is sinful for doing that, because he is doing an invalid act of worship. One needs to be very careful where to spend his Zakah money.