Buying books with sadaqat al-fitr and giving them to a group

Question

Is it permissible to buy religious books with sadaqat al-fitr money, purchasing them for some group of people (jama‘at) so that by reading them they will be drawn towards religion? The books are on fiqh, hadith, or on prayer, fasting and the like.

Answer

If books are bought with the money of sadaqat al-fitr and the like and given to some group for their benefit, the sadaqat al-fitr is not discharged thereby. Rather, those entitled to it are the poor (fuqara’) and the destitute (masakin); it should be given to them.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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