Fatwa no.
20335
All praise be to Allah Alone, and may Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon the Last of the Prophets, Muhammad. (Part No. 8; Page No. 454) The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has reviewed what has come to His Eminence the Grand Mufty (Islamic scholar qualified to issue legal opinions) from His Eminence Chief Judge of the High Court of Mabraz and the Chief of the Committee for Facilitating Marriage
in
Al-Ahsa',
Shaykh
`Abdullah ibn `Abdul-Rahman Al-Muhisin
under no. (1592) and dated 22/2/1419 A.H. and which was transferred to the committee by the Secretariat General of the Council of Senior Scholars under no. (2206) dated 24/3/1419 A.H. the letter of His Eminence reads:It gives me pleasure to inform Your Eminence of the issuing of the approval of His Highness the Governor of
Al-Ahsa'
for the establishment of a committee to help the youth get married. The committee is a part of the charitable committees in the Kingdom which provide financial support to the youth wishing to get married. The aid is in the form of loans, which are to be paid back, or in the form of grants to them as charity or Zakah (obligatory charity).According to the Fatwa of Your Eminence, which permitted channeling some aid from Zakah funds to those who wish to get married, the committee has received some Zakah funds from some benevolent people. Since one form of aid provided by the committee is to offer loans to be paid back by the borrower, I hope - after Your Eminence has investigated the case, you can give us a Fatwa in this regard. Is it permissible
to offer loans to those wishing to get married from the Zakah funds, which
are to be repaid to the committee?Or, should the Zakah money be given only to the needy with no obligation on them to repay what they have received? It should be noted that most of the funds that come (Part No. 8; Page No. 455) to the committee are paid as Zakah?
After studying the question, the committee answered that Zakah funds should be given to their due recipients including the poor, the needy, those who are in debt and other categories of Zakah recipients. The money should be given to them as their due right and should be distributed among them immediately, in order to relieve the conscience of its possessors as Allah (Glorified be He) and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered. It is not legally permissible to lend the Zakah funds to those who need it for getting married as well as for other legal expenditures. The primary objective of Zakah is to fulfill the needs of the poor and the needy and pay the debts of the debtors. Offering the Zakah money as loans will cause failure in the achievement of these needs or delay in benefiting from them.May Allah grant us success. May Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his Companions!