Is it permissible to pay Zakat al-Fitr for the renovation and restoration of a mosque, especially if it is in a state of necessity?
The recipients of zakat are specified in the verse: "Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakat] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler." Whoever spends zakat on other than these categories will not have discharged their obligation. The category "for the cause of Allah" is specific to jihad and its necessities; it does not include building mosques or charitable projects, otherwise, the specification would be without benefit. If it is possible to spend the money on the specified zakat categories, one should not deviate from them. Scholars have differed on what should be done with the money if it cannot be spent on the specified zakat categories: should it be returned to the other categories, or spent on charitable projects? The more preponderant opinion is that it should be spent on charitable projects if the need for them is urgent and there is no other source of funding for them.
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- Original fatwa ID
- 53268
- Imported
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- Source text, unreviewed
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