Source: Fatāwā ʿUlamāʾ-e-Ḥadīth, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Volume 1
❖ Question
Can Zakāt be given to a hospital?
❖ Answer
While discharging Zakāt, one must ensure that it is spent only in the avenues prescribed by Allah ﷻ. Allah states regarding the recipients of Zakāt:
**﴿إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَالْغَارِمِينَ وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ﴾
[Surah al-Tawbah: 60]
In this blessed verse, Allah has explicitly limited the avenues in which Zakāt may be spent. Therefore, it is essential that Zakāt be restricted to these specified categories—and hospitals are not among them.
In most hospitals, there is no distinction between the deserving and undeserving; treatment is provided equally to both the wealthy and the poor. For this reason, it is preferable that Zakāt funds not be directed to hospitals. Instead, other charitable avenues such as Ṣadaqah (voluntary charity) may be used to support hospitals.
However, if the administrators of a hospital are known for their piety and uprightness, and they distinguish between the deserving and the undeserving, ensuring that Zakāt funds are used exclusively for eligible recipients, then—according to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah and Imām Ibn Taymiyyah—it would be permissible to give Zakāt to such a hospital, provided that the benefit to the poor is greater in this form.
