Zakat money lying with an organisation for more than a year

Question

We have a community organisation established to help the poor, orphans and widows, and it does, ma sha’ Allah, carry out its service. Its arrangement is as follows: every year in blessed Ramadan it collects zakat and fitra (sadaqat al-fitr), and at ‘Id al-Adha the hides of sacrificial animals, and throughout the year a fixed amount is given monthly to orphans and widows. At present the organisation holds some money accumulated over several years.

Answer

Those who give zakat and fitra have made the officials of the organisation their agents (wakil) to spend their zakat and fitra in the proper place. Until they spend it, the zakat and fitra will not be discharged, the liability will not be cleared, and the wajib will remain.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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