Is it permissible to spend zakat funds on the needy poor in exchange for their performing public service works such as planting trees and cleaning streets, knowing that the giver of zakat does not personally benefit and that the money goes to the needy without purchasing materials?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
It is not permissible to withhold from its rightful recipients, the poor and the needy, and pay it to them as wages for work. Rather, it must be given to them based on the descriptions upon which the Lawgiver conditioned their entitlement. Thus, the poor person is entitled to it due to their poverty, and the needy person due to their neediness, and not in exchange for assigning them a task.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/193669
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 193669
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy