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Is it permissible not to pay Zakat to humanitarian organizations that treat blood diseases and cancer, especially if the state is unable to provide that?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Zakat is only to be paid to the eight categories mentioned in the Quran. The meaning of Allah's statement (in the way of Allah) refers to those striving in His cause (Mujahideen). As for charitable projects such as building health centers and providing medicine for the poor, Muslims should contribute to these through their voluntary Sadaqah (charity) and endowments, not through obligatory Zakat. This is the view of the majority of scholars. However, if there is no one to meet the needs of the poor in their medical treatment, then in this situation, there is no harm in paying Zakat to organizations that undertake this, adopting the other view of the scholars, because when a matter becomes difficult, it widens, and hardship brings ease. The rulings of Sharia are built upon the welfare of people.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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