Fatwa #1479211 December 2006Indonesia
To which kind of people should the zakat fitr be given........
Question
1. To which kind of people should the zakat fitr be given ?
2. Please clarify whether the following person deserve the zakat fitr or zakatul maal or both or does not deserve zakat at all.. and please metion to which category they should be included.
a. a caretaker or muadzin of the masjid (paid by the masjid with low salary)
b. a comittee masjid, khatib, teacher at madrasah regarded as fii sabilillaah
c. a student of a madrasah, belong to a well to do family or family with enough income
e. an orphan with a working mother able to maintain day to day life without any luxury
f. a widow who is working with low income
g. a rich widow
h. a poor person (at the outlook of his house) but having motorcycle (on credit), television etc.
i. a jama'at in the path of Allah (a mixed of rich and poor brothers)
j. The families of the brothers who is away in the path of Allah
k. a family with a permanent house (build by someone else) but they earning is just enough for day to day life.
l. a poor fellow but having a rich son / daughter.
m. a reverted brother/sister who has become a muslim for more than 2 years. Some of them are poor, some are quite OK!
n. A person who has a lot of debt, but he has lots of things, which if he sells, he can finish off his debt or at least reduce his debt and still can survive his daily life.
3. If in one house, there are 5 member, 2 parents and 3 children, can we give zakat to each one of them?
Answer
In principle, Zakaat is for the poor and needy Muslims. The definition of poor and needy in Shariah is, “that person who does not have excess wealth besides his basic needs equivalent to the minimum Nisab of Zakaat. Therefore, a, b, e, f, and? are eligible for Zakaat. In c if the student is an adult and he does not have excess wealth as explained, he too will be eligible to accept Zakaat. His family being rich does not disqualify him as a recipient of Zakaat.
In g, a rich widow will not be entitled to Zakaat. In I and j, only the poor brothers of the Jamaat will qualify for Zakaat. In k a poor person with a permanent house will be entitled for Zakaat. In m, a poor revert will be entitled for Zakaat. In n, if his debts exceed the value of all the things he has, he too will be entitled for Zakaat. However, morally he should sell some of his assets and pay his debts.
And Allah Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai