❀ Giving Zakāh to the Institutions of Polytheists and Innovators: Permissible or Not? ❀
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
What is the ruling on giving zakāh to the institutions (madāris) of polytheists (ahl al-shirk) and innovators (ahl al-bid‘ah)?
❖ Answer:
It is not permissible to give zakāh to the institutions of polytheists or innovators. Doing so is considered assisting in sin, which is prohibited.
Allah the Exalted says:
وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ
(Al-Mā’idah 5:2)
“Help one another in righteousness and piety, but do not help one another in sin and transgression.”
❖ Relevant Aḥādīth:
✿ Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا حسد إلا فى اثنتين : رجل آتاه الله مالا فسلط على هلكته فى الحق، ورجل آتاه الله الحكمة فهو يقضي بها ويعلمها
“Envy is not permissible except in two cases: ① A man whom Allah has given wealth, and he spends it in the path of truth. ② A man whom Allah has given wisdom, and he judges with it and teaches it.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 73, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 816)
✿ Sayyidunā Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من أحب لله، وأبغض لله، وأعطى لله، ومنع لله فقد استكمل الإيمان .
“Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, gives for the sake of Allah, and withholds for the sake of Allah, has indeed completed his faith.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4681, ḥasan chain)
