Fatwa ID: 02491

Answered by: Moulana Muhammad Imad Ali

Question:

An organisation in UK is collecting Zakaat for publishing Quraan for
distribution to non-Muslims.
Can this obligation be discharged in any Dawah activity including
publication of books?

Answer

بسم الله الرحمن الرحي

Allah states in the Qur’an, “The alms are only for the poor and needy, and those who collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and to free the captives and the debtors, and for the cause of Allan, and (for) the wayfarers; a duty imposed by Allah. Allah is the knower, the Wise.”(Surah at-Tawbah Ayah: 60)

It is a condition for zakaat that it be given to someone legally poor (or from the other zakaat categories mentioned in the Qur’an), according to all four sunni schools of fiqh, and they all state that it is invalid to give it for other acts of good, such as da’wah, building mosques or charity.

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Moulana Muhammad Imad Ali

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham