Fatwa ID: 01984

Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Question:

A family we know doesn't have a house of their own. Can they be given Zakat to buy a land and build a house, if they don't possess the amount of nisaab

Answer:

The principle for the validity of Zakat is that the recipient must take full, complete and unattached ownership of the Zakat. (Aapke Masaail p.389 v.3)

Regarding your question, it would not be permissible to give some Zakat money to a poor person with the condition that he needs to purchase a land and build a house on it. However, if somebody with the Zakat money purchased a land and built a house with Zakat money and then gave the house to the poor without attaching any conditions and made the poor the owner of the house, then such a Zakat would be considered valid. (Ahsanul Fatawa p.490 v.4)

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham