Zakat and similar funds for a madrasa

Question

Muslims have settled a very large village, but its people are extremely ignorant and uninformed; generally 85 per cent of them are without means, and they are entirely unacquainted with the religious and Shari‘a customs and practices. An elementary religious school was started here, and utmost efforts were made to have some monthly sum given to the school, but the people did not give. Time and again the school, together with its building, came to an end, but the people paid no attention.

Answer

Those funds in which tamlik (transfer of ownership) is necessary — zakat, sadaqat al-fitr, the price of the hides of sacrificial animals, nadhr (vows), the kaffara (expiation) for an oath and for fasting, and the like — may not be spent directly on construction or salaries; by doing so the wajib will not be discharged.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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