Question
What do the scholars of the Dīn and muftīs of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: How is to pay Zakāh using something else? Questioner: Ubayd from UK
Answer
بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایة الحق والصواب
It is not essential to use money to pay Zakāh. may give some food to a poor person instead or may also give’s extra clothes in the home to them as well. If a person has some furniture that they are no longer in need of, then may also give this to a poor person in the form of Zakāh as well. Yes, should bear in mind that it’s price will be considered in terms of the market rate of that specific day.
Just as it is stated in Nahr al-Fā’iq Sharh Kanz al-Daqā’iq,
“لو أطعم يتيماً ناوياً الزكاة لا تجزئه إلا إذا دفع إليه المطعوم كما لو كساه بشرط أن يكون مراهقاً يعقل القبض وإن كان صغيراً لا يجزئه۔”
“If feeds an orphan with the intention of Zakāh, then Zakāh will not be fulfilled; unless they are made the owner of it. Likewise, if they are clothed (then Zakāh will be fulfilled), provided that they have enough sense to know how to take possession. And if it was a small child, then Zakāh will not be fulfilled.”
[al-Nahr al-Fā’iq Sharh Kanz al-Daqā’iq, vol. 1, p. 412]
Likewise, ‘Allāmah Shāmī states in Radd al-Muhtār,
“فَلَوْ أَطْعَمَ يَتِيمًا نَاوِيًا الزَّكَاةَ لَا يَجْزِيهِ إلَّا إذَا دَفَعَ إلَيْهِ الْمَطْعُومَ كَمَا لَوْ كَسَاهُ بِشَرْطِ أَنْ يَعْقِلَ الْقَبْضَ”
“If feeds an orphan with the intention of Zakāh, then Zakāh will not be fulfilled; unless they are made the owner of it. Similarly, if they are clothed (then Zakāh will be fulfilled), provided that they have the ability to take possession.”
[Radd al-Muhtār, vol. 2, p. 257]
Muftī Amjad ‘Alī A’zhamī states in Bahār-e-Sharī’at, ‘If offers food, clothes, etc instead of money to a poor person and makes them the owner, then Zakāh will be fulfilled. But its price being from the market rate should be understood as Zakāh. is not to deduct the overheads spent for example the money given to a worker or if ordered from a village, then the rent and duty. Or if has had something cooked, then will not deduct the cost of the payment spent on cooking or the wood. Rather, whatever the price of that cooked item is, that is what will be considered.’
[Bahār-e-Sharī’at, vol. 1, part 5, p. 909]
والله تعالی أعلم ورسوله أعلم صلی الله علیه وآله وسلم کتبه أبو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء القادري
Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qādiri
Translated by Haider Ali al-Madanī
Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0881] Must Zakah be given in cash form or can we give other items instead?
Published by the Dar-ul-Ifta of Akhuwat-e-Islami as Q-ID0881. Read it on Akhuwat-e-Islami