Distribution of Zakah-general : processing Zakah applications

السؤال

Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh, Dear respected Scholars who love and fear Allah as Allah should be loved and feared : I have questions that involve issues of Zakah and Sudaka. Just recently I was nominated to the Zakah committee of a local Mosque in the U.S. My duties involve processing Zakah applications. These duties include approving Zakah applications and approving the amounts that I think the applicants are entitled to according to our Zakah resources. Admittedly, I have very little knowledge about the criteria that is involved in deciding whom amongst the applicants qualify according to the standards set by Allah (SWT) in the Quran and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in his teachings. In processing the applications that came before me, I was relying on the application itself, which sets out the criteria. Although, the former Imam was using the same application, I noticed that the application has many deficiencies. For example, the only application we have is the Zakah application. When a person applies for financial help, nowhere on the application does it give the applicant a choice to apply for Zakah versus Sudaka. Also, in order to qualify for Zakah, the applicant must confirm and sign a preprinted statement affirming that s / he is a Muslim and believes in Allah and His last Messenger. After performing routine information verification/confirmation, I learned that some applicants were actually not Muslim and just signed the statement without regard to the truth. Maybe this is because the only application for assistance is the Zakah application. Another issue that I am concerned about is the fact that the Zakah application looks more like a welfare application for the West and not a Zakah application for Muslims. For example, the application doesn?t ask specifically about gold / silver. It asks about monthly income (from all sources), net assets (value of your possession), monthly expenses (rent / mortgage, medical bills, transportation costs, other bills). Finally the application asks for a brief description for the reason why the applicant is applying along with biographical / family data (Name, age, address, dependants, marital status, age, and etcetera). Additionally, I am finding that many applicants are not poor but are financially irresponsible. For example, many applicants have credit card debt they are asking help with and others who have nice monthly incomes are living beyond their means. They are literally living day to day with borrowed money. Then there are some who are actually poor and are habitual Zakah applicants. They would come everyday if they could. Some of these poor persons are just not able to hold a job or lost the energy and / or hope to work. Then there are applicants that are in-between the two types described above. It is rather confusing and stressful because we are dealing with Allah (SWT)? S money and we have a responsibility to follow His rules. After discussing the Zakah application with others, I noticed that other Mosques are using the same process as the mosque I normally attend. Can you please provide a guideline for what a Zakah application should look like, whether a personal interview is required, who qualifies for Zakah, does there have to be a separate application for Sudaka so that applicants have a choice, should we give to those who are poor and keep coming back, those who are rich but financial irresponsible, and all other questions that you can imagine that can come up when processing the Zakah applications. In my opinion, the poor in the U.S. are not like the poor in other countries. In the U.S., you can?t starve to death. In the U.S., you have access to so many welfare resources that it will make you wonder why we even give Zakah to the citizens of the U.S. Maybe we should just send all the Zakah to overseas people who are in more need. The point of asking for you help with the above dear scholars is that I don’t want to follow my opinion or the opinion of other administrative officials, I want to do it as Allah (SWT) wants us to do it. Please provide details, details, and details. Please describe what should be on the application (questions), how far should we go to prove the information is true (verification over the phone, make them provide proof of their claims), if they can’t pay there rent, do we have to give them the money or can we pay the person the rent is owed to. If they can’t pay their medical bills can we pay it for them instead of giving them the cash ? Dear scholars, there is so much fraud it is unbelievable. Some applicants can put anything on their application and it’s based completely on trust. By the above question to you oh scholars, I will tell Allah (SWT) that I paid the Zakah (his money) based on asking those with knowledge and not based on my own imperfect ideas. May Allah reward you for helping me for Allah ? S sake ! Amen ! Jazakum Allahu Khairan for your constant help

جواب الفتوى

أنقر هنالمشاهدة هذا المحتوى

تاريخ النشر

2006-11-19

التخصصات الرئيسية

العلوم الاقتصادية والمالية وإدارة الأعمال
الدراسات الإسلامية

عدد الصفحات

4

نوع البيانات

فتاوى

لغة النص

الإنجليزية

رقم السجل

BIM-792380

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