The expenditure heads of a bayt al-mal

Question

A bayt al-mal (public fund) has been established under the supervision of a committee. If sums of zakat or some donations are collected in it and, when needed, lent to those in need, will zakat be discharged thereby or not? (2) May (money) from this collected sum be spent on building or repairing a mosque or not? (3) May the salary of the imam and muezzin also be given from zakat or not? (4)

Answer

(1) In this way zakat will not be discharged; everyone’s zakat will be ruined and wasted, and the burden (of sin) will remain on their account. Zakat must be given to the recipient (the needy person) to whom it is given by way of tamlik (transfer of ownership), not by way of a loan. (2) Spending zakat on these purposes is not permissible, nor is it valid to give it as a loan.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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