Fatwa #143026 June 2006United States of America
some religious scholars said that zakat cannot be given to people who have T.V. /V.C.R/DVD in their homes
Question
some religious scholars said that zakat cannot be given to people who have T.V. /V.C.R/DVD in their homes because these make a person not eligible for zakat, now a days everybody has one or all of these things in their homes but not all of them are welloff and they are quite eligible for taking zakat , please give detail reply in this regard
Answer
1. A poor person claiming to accept Zakaat and has any un-Islamic item, for example, television, etc. in his possession should be analyzed in the following:
• If the poor persons need is lesser than the value of the television, Zakaat should not be given to him. He/she should be advised to sell the television and fulfill the need. However, if the need exceeds the value of the television, Zakaat may be given to him/her less the value of the television.
And Allah Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai