Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother, Assalamu Alaikum

I got the answer for my previous questions and I am very grateful to you. I have some doubts regarding Zakhat. It would be very kind of you if u can clear those out for me.

1) I am in gulf and my parents are in India. We are 3 sisters out of which I am second and my small sister is studying in India and my elder sister is also married and settled in gulf, allhamdurillah. My father is very old and he is not working. My elder sister and I am sending a fixed amount of money every alternate month for their needs and my sisters studies. Besides that based on Ramdaan, Eid and such special occasions will be sending little more. I am working here and I am always sending form my own earnings. My salary is 2800 Dhs and what I send them in every alternate month is 7500 Rs. Can this be calculated as Zakhat or as my duty towards my parents?

2) I heard that while selecting whom to give zakhat, first you should see in your family, then your neighbours or something like that. Could you please explain the priority order whom should be considered first for zakath?

3) When ever we go out, we used to put some money in the charity box (may be my money or husbands money). We never keep a track on this. Will this be counted as our zakath?

4) If I am just seeing around the whole world, the group which I feel who needs support are the orphan children. I used to send some money to the orphange to feed them any one time meal a day. I think I have done this 2 times in last 2 years. One was from my first salary and second time was when I got a good increment in my salary. Will this be calculated as my zakath?
5) Which is the best time to give zakath - is it in Ramdaan or any month? Can we give the total amount in Ramdaan or can we break it and give as small quantities thru out the year?

Hope you will help me with the above questions. May God bless you for your good deeds.

Best Regards,

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Zakat issues

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question-1: I am in gulf and my parents are in India. We are 3 sisters out of which I am second and my small sister is studying in India and my elder sister is also married and settled in gulf, allhamdurillah. My father is very old and he is not working. My elder sister and I am sending a fixed amount of money every alternate month for their needs and my sisters studies. Besides that based on Ramdaan, Eid and such special occasions will be sending little more. I am working here and I am always sending form my own earnings. My salary is 2800 Dhs and what I send them in every alternate month is 7500 Rs. Can this be calculated as Zakhat or as my duty towards my parents?

It is not permissible for a believer to give zakah to one who is directly under ones care and responsibility. A believing man cannot give zakah to his parents, his wife, his children, etc.; and a believing woman, although it is permissible for her to give zakaah to her husband if he is abjectly poor, cannot give zakah to her parents and her children because they come under those who are directly under her responsibility. But if a believing woman does support her parents from her wealth and her earnings, although it cannot be counted as zakah, she will have a huge reward for her this deed in the Presence of her Lord Most Gracious.

Your Question-2: I heard that while selecting whom to give zakhat, first you should see in your family, then your neighbours or something like that. Could you please explain the priority order whom should be considered first for zakath?

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 3.79

A poor husband is entitled to receive zakah from his well-to-do wife, even though she is not supposed to support him. Her reward for giving it to him is more than if she were to give it to strangers. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that Zainab, the wife of Ibn Mas'ud, said: "O Prophet of Allah (saws)! Indeed you have ordered us today to give away sadaqah, and I have some jewelry which I wanted to give away as sadaqah. But Ibn Mas'ud claims that he and his children deserve it more than someone else." The Prophet (saws) responded: "Ibn Mas'ud is right. Your husband and your children are more deserving." Related by al-Bukhari.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "Sadaqah for the poor is rewarded as one sadaqah, but in the case of a relative it is considered as two: [one reward for] blood tie and [the other reward for] the sadaqah [itself]." Related by Ahmad, an-Nasa'i, and at-Tirmidhi.

In light of the above and several other hadiths of the Messenger (saws), the closer one is to the person who one helps, the bigger their right and the greater will be their reward.

1. Thus in hierarchy, the first and foremost would be those who are closely related by blood: brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, then close family, then distant family members.
2. Then would be the neighbors, starting with the closest to the most distant.
3. Then would be friends, starting with the closest to the most distant.
4. Then would be the believers living in the area or locality one lives in, then in the city one lives in, then in the country, and then overseas anywhere in the world.

Your Question-3: When ever we go out, we used to put some money in the charity box (may be my money or husbands money). We never keep a track on this. Will this be counted as our zakath?

This would depend entirely upon your intentions when putting some money in the charity boxes, and the particular nature of where the money being collected in the boxes will be spent or distributed.

If the charity box specifically mentions that they are accepting zakah funds and will spend or distribute the funds in one of the prescribed paths of zakaah, and while putting money in these boxes one’s intention was to pay their zakah dues; then indeed this would be acceptable as zakah payments in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.

But if one does not have a record of how much money they have put in these zakah boxes, nor did one have the intention in their hearts that the money they are putting in these charity boxes are to fulfill their zakah dues, nor was it mentioned or made known that the funds collected in these charity boxes would be spent or distributed in one of the prescribed paths where zakah is applicable, etc.; then it cannot be counted as zakah payments.

Your Question-4: If I am just seeing around the whole world, the group which I feel who needs support are the orphan children. I used to send some money to the orphange to feed them any one time meal a day. I think I have done this 2 times in last 2 years. One was from my first salary and second time was when I got a good increment in my salary. Will this be calculated as my zakath?

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 3.10a

Since the payment of zakah is an act of worship, its validity depends upon the expression of one's intention. That is, the zakah payer should pay it for the sake of Allah; he should make up his mind, with all of his heart, that zakah is an obligation to be discharged before one pays one’s zakah dues in the applicable avenues where zakah payment is permissible. It is related in al-Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (saws) said: "The value of [one's] deeds is determined by [one's] intentions; and thus for each shall be according to his intentions."

Orphans are indeed eligible and deserving of receiving the zakah funds, thus if at the time of paying the money to the orphanage your intention was to fulfill your zakah dues by these payments, then indeed it would be counted as a fulfillment of your zakah payments.

But if you did not make a prior intention before paying the money to the orphanage, then it would be counted as sadaqa or charity, and Insha Allah, you will have secured your reward with your Lord Most Merciful. Intention is a pre-requisite for any form of obligatory worship, but payments made without the specific intention to fulfill the zakah prior to its payment cannot be counted as zakah after payment.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.224 Narrated by Sahl

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "I and the one who looks after an orphan will be like this in Paradise," putting his index and middle fingers together.

Your Question-5: Which is the best time to give zakath - is it in Ramdaan or any month? Can we give the total amount in Ramdaan or can we break it and give as small quantities thru out the year?

There is absolutely no restriction or obligation that one must give one’s zakah in a particular month in Islam; one may choose or nominate any month of the calendar year which is easy for them and calculate their dues accordingly. There is also absolutely no obligation that the zakah has to be fulfilled at one time, or in one month, etc. If one cannot afford to pay one’s zakah dues all at one time, there is absolutely no harm if one determines the amount at a particular date as zakah dues for that calendar year and pays their dues in installments over that year.

Because Ramadan is a blessed month, and the Mercy and Grace of our Lord Most Merciful is absolutely overflowing in this holiest of months, the believers who wish to take advantage of the blessedness and holiness of this month distribute the majority of their zakah dues in Ramadan. But there is absolutely no obligation on the believer to distribute their zakah in Ramadan or any other particular time or month; one may determine any day or month to calculate their dues and distribute them as and when they like in that calendar year. It is expected that they will have their full reward from their Lord, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

The Mercy, Grace, Bounty, and Benevolence of our Lord Most Gracious is at its peak in Ramadan, so much so that the Messenger of Allah (saws) declared that one who offers a voluntary (nafl or Sunnah) prayer in this blessed month will earn the reward of praying a ‘fard’ prayer in any other month; and the one who performs Umrah in this blessed month will earn the same reward as one who has done Hajj with the Messenger of Allah (saws)! Such are the multiples of rewards which the Lord Most Merciful showers to the doers of good deeds in His Blessed and Holy Month of Ramadan. Thus if one can distribute his zakah in the month of Ramadan, one should strive to do so.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 1985 Narrated by Abdullah Ibn Abbas

A man asked the Messenger of Allah (saws): ‘O Messenger of Allah (saws)! What is that action which is equivalent to performing Hajj with you?’ The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘(The reward of performing) Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to (the reward of) performing Hajj along with me!’

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan