Paying teachers’ salaries from zakat

Question

There is a madrasa in which there are very few students from outside; it is a poor madrasa. If money is given to the students, it is possible that they will take it and run away. How, then, should the teachers’ salaries be paid? Should the teachers take zakat funds or not?

Answer

Obligatory charity and zakat must be spent on the poor by way of tamlik (transfer of ownership) without any return. Giving them directly as the salaries of teachers and others is not permissible; zakat is not discharged thereby.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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