Is Zakat Valid If Given to Charities Funding Wells and Housing Projects?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

Is zakat valid if given to charities funding projects like wells and housing, or must one ensure they distribute zakat in a Shariah-compliant manner? How can one verify compliance?

If a charity deducts administrative costs from zakat, is it permissible to donate zakat to them if one covers the admin fees separately?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

If the charity ensures and complies that the water well or housing is given into the ownership of the people who will benefit from it, and they are Zakat eligible, then Zakat will be valid in this way.

It is permissible to give one’s Zakat in the form of goods instead of cash as long as the current market value matches the amount of Zakat owed. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar; Tahtawi, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ‘ala Maraqi al-Falah]

Private charity organizations cannot use Zakat funds for administrative costs. You may give them Zakat while separately informing them about paid administration fees. See the detailed fatwa below on this issue.

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Please go through the valuable answers and links below. Insha’Allah, they will provide you with guidance and direction.

Related

• Zakat: How to Calculate & Whom to Give …
• Zakat: A Comprehensive SeekersGuidance Reader 
• Zakat Calculator
• Use of Zakat for the Administrative Expenses of Charities
• What’s Your Zakat Distribution Service? Is It Admin?

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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.