The Zakāt on Money is Extracted and Paid as Money (Advice to those who run charitable organisations)

An extract from the upcoming translation of Volume 2 of al-Fiqh al-Manjajī 

Exchanging zakātable wealth or disposing of it:

There is no difference of opinion that the zakāt on money is extracted[1] as money, and that it is not valid for the owner to extract it in the form of commodities that are equal in value to the amount of the zakāt that must be paid.

If the owner gives his wealth to someone else to pay it on his behalf, such as a ruler,[2] an authorised representative,[3] or someone else, it is not for these people to dispose of it in any way that changes it from its original nature before it reaches its deserving recipients.[4] An-Nawawī r said: ‘Our companions[5] have said that it is not permissible for the Imam[6] nor the sāʿī[7] to trade any of the zakāt wealth if there is no necessity. Rather, they are to deliver it to the deserving recipients in its original state, because the people of the zakāt[8] are people of rushd;[9] there is no guardianship over them. It is thus not permissible to trade what belongs to them without their permission.’ (al-Majmūʿ, 6:178)

The necessity that an-Nawawī r mentions is if one fears that the obligatory zakāt will be destroyed or damaged if it is left in its original state until it reaches its deserving recipients, or one needs provisions in the course of transferring it and thus one trades a portion of it for that purpose.

Based on this, we would like to draw the attention of the sincere people who run charitable organisations: it is not permissible for them to dispose of money that is given to them as the zakāt and thus buy foodstuffs and the like with it and then give it to the deserving recipients on the pretext that they are being shown compassion and their interests[10] are being taken care of, and so that they do not spend the money on what is not in their interests nor the interests of their children and dependants. We would like to advise these sincere people, if indeed they are keen for reward, not to appoint themselves as legislators and not to determine interest in the Revealed Law of Allah the Exalted as it appears to them. Furthermore, we advise them not to make themselves guardians over those whom Allah the Exalted has not granted them guardianship, and to adhere to what an-Nawawī has transmitted from the revered scholars, which is that the people of the zakāt are people of rushd, there is no guardianship over them, and therefore it is not permissible to dispose of what we have been entrusted to deliver to them without their permission, and their permission is only considered after their right has been given to them; they themselves authorise it while it is in their possession.

An-Nawawī r also  said: ‘Our companions[11] have said that if the obligation is to pay one she-camel,[12] one cow, or one sheep, it is not for the owner to sell it and distribute its price among the categories of recipients without disparity. Rather, he is to gather the deserving recipients and give it to them. This is also the ruling of the Imam[13] according to the majority.’ (al-Majmūʿ 6/178) Moreover, it should not escape us that the zakāt is an act of worship; there is no room for opinions or juridical reasoning except within very confined boundaries. This is why the fuqahāʾ stop at the texts and do not look at what is imagined to be an interest if they[14] were to be contravened.

An-Nawawī r also said: ‘Imam al-Ḥaramayn[15] said, “The relied-upon[16] position regarding the evidence according to our companions’ is that the zakāt is a means of drawing nearer to Allah the Exalted,[17] and the approach regarding anything of that nature is to follow what Allah the Exalted has commanded. If a person says to his representative, ‘Buy me a garment’, and the representative knows that his purpose is trade and he then sees some commodity that would be more beneficial for the one who is hiring him, it is not for him to contravene him, even if he thinks it is more beneficial. Thus, it is even more so the case that Allah’s commands are obligatory to follow”.’ (al-Majmūʿ 5/403). In other words, it is not for us to contravene Him on the pretext of benefit and interest.

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[1] Ar. tukhraj, i.e. it is extracted from the total amount of money and then paid.

[2] Ar. ḥākim, and this would include governments and their agencies.

[3] Ar. wakīl, which could also be translated as ‘agent’.

[4] (tn): See Sūrat at-Tawbah 9:60. The categories of deserving recipients shall be elucidated in a subsequent chapter.

[5] (tn): i.e. the Shāfiʿīs.

[6] (tn): i.e. the Khalīfah, or ruler.

[7] (tn): i.e. the person responsible for delivering it.

[8] (tn): i.e. the deserving recipients.

[9] Ar. rushd, i.e. maturity and sensible conduct.

[10] Ar. maṣlaḥah, the plural of which is maṣāliḥ.

[11] (tn): i.e. the Shāfiʿīs.

[12] Ar. nāqah.

[13] (tn): i.e. the ruler.

[14] (tn): i.e. the texts.

[15] (tn): i.e. Imam Abū al-Maʿālī al-Juwaynī (419-478 AH), the teacher of Imam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī.

[16] Ar. muʿtamad.

[17] Ar. qurbah, which is synonymous with ʿibādah, i.e. an act of worship.