Is the Rector of a Madrasa the Agent of the Students or of the Donor?

Question

Question: Is zakat discharged by depositing zakat money in a madrasa’s fund for the poor, or not? The issue is this: this money will be distributed among the students gradually and will remain deposited in the fund for a long time. Will the zakat be lifted from the responsibility of the zakat-giver after it is deposited in the madrasa, or after it is distributed among the students?

Answer

If the administrators of the madrasa are accepted as the agents of the students, this doubt does not arise at all, because their taking possession (qabd) is the students’ taking possession. If they are regarded as agents of the owners of wealth, then in actual fact (fi nafs al-amr)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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