Fatwa #4483728 April 2020Pakistan
Has my Zakāh been fulfilled?
Question
Asslamualaikum,
We are living in combined family and our father is a head. We pay zakat every year from our wealth. We calculate the zakat on all the wealth and our father decide the money from which we pay.
Last year instead of paying full in form of money we given the brikes and building material (we had brikes in our house) with the niyyat of zakat and had constructed the house of our uncle (who is very poor). We arranged money from other people also and hired a mason for construction. If we gave money adirectly and material to them they might had failed to construct as they are very careless. We took the rate of briks etc. from a good mason and subtracted from our total zakat (It was about 50000 pakistani rupees).
Is our zakat is paid? Jazakallah.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-raḥmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, tamlīk (to hand over in ownership) is a condition for the validity of zakāh. You must ensure that your uncle has complete possession of the house, or your zakāh will not be fulfilled.
It is also permissible to pay off one’s zakāh based on the market value of an item. However, you must ensure the rate that the mason gave you for the bricks is the standard market value and not his personal price.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Abrar Habib
Student - Darul Iftaa
New York City, New York, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.