Is it permissible to use zakat funds to prepare Ramadan baskets, Iftar meals for the needy (Ma'idat Al-Rahman), and purchase Eid clothes for the poor and orphans?
Zakat is levied from the very asset subject to zakat, and it is not permissible to disburse its value unless one is unable to disburse the specified asset itself. The funds for which you are agents in disbursing to the poor must be delivered to their rightful recipients as funds, just as they became obligatory upon their owners. It is not permissible to spend zakat on "Rahman's tables" (charity iftars) or "Ramadan bags" if they are distributed without scrutiny, and if both the rich and the poor take from them. Zakat has its legally defined recipients. Spending on these matters can be done from general charity (sadaqah).
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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