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:

Can we establish Baitulmal in India. The money will come in this Baitulmal from Fitra, Sadka, Zakat, And Donation from all muslim from our city, And then this money will be distrube to all poor and needy peoples. 

(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:

Established baitul maal treasury in india

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The literal meaning of the Arabic term ‘Bayt ul Maal’ means the ‘House of Treasury’, ie. the ‘Central Treasury’ which an Islamic State establishes to hold the wealth of the nation. It is from this ‘Bayt ul Maal’ or Central Treasury whereby all the zakah, sadaqah, jizya, etc. dues are collected and spent on the running of the state and the spending on the poor and the needy.

If a few believers wish to establish a ‘charity foundation’ and call or name it ‘bayt ul maal’ in the city or area where they live, whereby they collect the charity dues of some believers and spend it on the poor and needy, there is absolutely no harm.

Because the city or the state neither belongs to you, nor you have an Islamic State established there, you obviously would not have the right to demand that all the believers in the area or city ‘must’ pay all their charity dues to your organization. If some amongst the believers wish to pay their charity dues to your organization, and you in turn, fearing Allah, spend those dues on the poor and needy, there is absolutely no harm in doing so.

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