Fatwa ID: 09067
Answered by Mufti Abdurrahman Mohammad
Question:
Assalamu alaykum,
I would like to ask a question according to the Hanafi school of thought about zakah.
A close family member in my father’s village is poor and eligible to receive zakah. She needed housing repairs / accommodation. My father paid the full cost upfront from his own money (around £6,000) for the building work to start and complete without payment delay to builders.
After this, my father asked me and my siblings to pay him back in instalments over several years, and to count these instalments as our zakah.
My sibling says this is allowed because the relative is poor and in debt, and we are paying the debt on her behalf. However, I am unsure whether this is correct because our payments are going to my father (who already paid), not directly to the poor relative at the time of payment.
My questions are:
- According to the Hanafi school, can zakah be paid by reimbursing someone who already paid upfront for a poor person?
- Is zakah valid if it is paid to the creditor instead of directly to the poor person?
- Does other school of thought allow this installment of zakah? (Only ask as my family has told me a shiekh they know confirmed this method)
I want to make sure my zakah is given correctly.
Jazakallah khayran.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Question 1:
Zakāt is the transfer of ownership (Tamlīk) of wealth to a poor Muslim. [1] In order for Zakāt to be correct, Tamlīk must occur. Therefore, Zakāt is only valid when the poor person actually receives ownership of the Zakāt funds. Paying someone else back for what they spent on Zakāt does not constitute transferring ownership to the poor person, so this does not count as Zakāt. [2]
Question 2:
Paying the creditor instead of the poor person is invalid, unless the poor person first owns the money directly or appoints the creditor as an agent to collect it on their behalf. Paying the creditor directly does not constitute Tamlīk because it does not reach the poor person directly, rather one is reimbursing someone else for their Zakāt. The creditor cannot be paid directly, unless the payment first becomes the property of the poor person before being used on the debt.
Question 3:
Allah (ﷻ) says in the Quran:
Alms-tax is only for the poor and the needy, for those employed to administer it, for those whose hearts are attracted ˹to the faith˺, for ˹freeing˺ slaves, for those in debt, for Allah’s cause, and for ˹needy˺ travellers. ˹This is˺ an obligation from Allah. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (At-Tawbah 9:60)
All the Madhāhib use this verse to derive the rulings (Ahkām) of Zakāt. The verse specifically mentions that Zakāt is payable only to these categories. As a Hanafi Dārul Iftā’, we can only answer according to the Hanafi Madhab. And when it comes to important issues such as Zakāt, it is important to fulfill it in a way that is considered valid according to all the Madhāhib.
Only Allah ﷻ knows best.
Written by Mufti Abdurrahman Mohammad
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
References:
[1]
أَمَّا تَفْسِيرُهَا فَهِيَ تَمْلِيكُ الْمَالِ مِنْ فَقِيرٍ مُسْلِمٍ غَيْرِ هَاشِمِيٍّ، وَلَا مَوْلَاهُ بِشَرْطِ قَطْعِ الْمَنْفَعَةِ عَنْ الْمُمَلِّكِ مِنْ كُلِّ وَجْهٍ لِلَّهِ – تَعَالَى – هَذَا فِي الشَّرْعِ كَذَا فِي التَّبْيِينِ
(Al-Fatāwā Al-Hindiyyah, vol. 1, pg. 170, Al-Maṭba’ah Al-Kubrā Al-Amīriyyah)
[2]
وَالْأَصْلُ فِيهِ أَنَّ أَدَاءَ الْعَيْنِ عَنْ الْعَيْنِ وَعَنْ الدَّيْنِ يَجُوزُ، وَأَدَاءُ الدَّيْنِ عَنْ الْعَيْنِ، وَعَنْ دَيْنٍ سَيُقْبَضُ لَا يَجُوزُ … وَقَيَّدْنَا بِكَوْنِ مَنْ عَلَيْهِ الدَّيْنُ فَقِيرًا؛ لِأَنَّهُ لَوْ كَانَ غَنِيًّا فَوَهَبَهُ بَعْدَ الْحَوْلِ فَفِيهِ رِوَايَتَانِ أَصَحُّهُمَا الضَّمَانُ كَمَا فِي الْمُحِيطِ
(Al-Bahr Ar-Rāiq, vol. 2, pg. 228, Dār Al-Kitāb Al-Islāmī)
[3]
(قَوْلُهُ: وَلَا يَجُوزُ دَفْعُ الزَّكَاةِ لِمَنْ يَمْلِكُ نِصَابًا مِنْ أَيِّ مَالٍ كَانَ) مِنْ فُرُوعِهَا: قَوْمٌ دَفَعُوا الزَّكَاةَ إلَى مَنْ يَجْمَعُهَا لِفَقِيرٍ فَاجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَ الْآخِذِ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ مِائَتَيْنِ فَإِنْ كَانَ جَمَعَهُ لَهُ بِأَمْرِهِ، قَالُوا: كُلُّ مَنْ دَفَعَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَبْلُغَ مَا فِي يَدِ الْجَانِي مِائَتَيْنِ جَازَتْ زَكَاتُهُ، وَمَنْ دَفَعَ بَعْدَهُ لَا تَجُوزُ إلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ الْفَقِيرُ مَدْيُونًا فَيُعْتَبَرُ هَذَا التَّفْصِيلُ فِي مِائَتَيْنِ تَفْضُلُ بَعْدَ دَيْنِهِ، فَإِنْ كَانَ بِغَيْرِ أَمْرِهِ جَازَ الْكُلُّ مُطْلَقًا لِأَنَّ فِي الْأَوَّلِ هُوَ وَكِيلٌ عَنْ الْفَقِيرِ فَمَا اجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَهُ يَمْلِكُهُ، وَفِي الثَّانِي وَكِيلُ الدَّافِعِينَ فَمَا اجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَهُ مِلْكُهُمْ.
(Al-Fath Al-Qadeer, vol. 2, pg. 277, Maṭba’ah Mustafā Al-Bābī Al-Halabī)