The Hila of Tamlik with a Condition of Returning the Money

Question

A man of wealth needs to spend a large sum on some Islamic institution. He uses this hila: he gives that sum to someone entitled to zakat on condition that the person entitled to zakat returns that sum to the Islamic institution. What is the ruling on this hila? Will zakat be discharged or not? And will the person entitled to zakat who returned the money to the Islamic institution receive the reward for spending on a good cause or not?

Answer

This condition is absolutely impermissible. It is in no way permissible for the man of wealth to compel the person entitled to zakat to give this sum to that Islamic institution. If, despite the condition, the person entitled to zakat does not return that sum to the Islamic institution, the man of wealth still has no right to take it back.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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