Giving Obligatory Charities to an Imam and a Scholar

Question

A certain man has been appointed imam of a mosque and gives lessons (dars). The people of the settlement assign to him all charities (sadaqat) and alms, for example sadaqat al-fitr — may he take them according to the Shari‘a or not? Given that he himself is an owner of the nisab and zakat is fard upon him, if he takes it, will the zakat of the givers be discharged or not? In the book “Sultan al-Fiqh” (p. 1, vol. 1)

Answer

It is not proper for either of these two persons to take zakat and obligatory charities; if anyone gave them zakat and the like, his zakat has not been discharged. In the case of the first person there are two reasons for impermissibility.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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