Suhaib Webb – Sending Zakat Overseas

Thank you for asking these questions. It's a

great question. So can you send your zakatomel

overseas? Same thing, by the way, for zakat

al fitr.

Can it be sent overseas for people who

are suffering?

SUNY legal scholars

generally discourage their practum practice of transferring

zakat beyond the distance at which we're allowed

to join the prayers.

Although, honestly, the evidence for that is not

strong, man, with respect,

to that position.

And there's some variation in the application of

that within schools.

Right? In the Maliki tradition, the Maliki Med

Heb,

while generally it agrees with the other schools,

there is an exception

attributed to Abdul Ahmed ibn Qasem, who's a

student of the Imam Malik and other students

of Imam Malik, not just him, and relied

upon for fatwa,

and that is transferring saka beyond the distance

to join prayers is deemed acceptable if there

is an emergency in that area.

Sakhnun

also had held this opinion, and Khalil addresses

it in his Muqtasr.

But Sakhnun said if the authorities are aware

of a significant need in other religion now

we have no authority. We have no amir.

So we each and every one of us

has to make this decision for ourselves.

They are permitted to allocate a portion of

the obligatory zakat for those areas. So I

encourage people to do both, give locally and

give international.

In situations of need, if it's essential to

give precedence

because it's essential to give precedence to aiding

those in distress. Again, we talk about the

axiom a lot. Right? Al Maqaseh tuqaddim arawasa'irihah.

The objective is giving precedence over.

As every Muslim, Sahin al says, should look

out for their fellow Muslim

and not neglect them or leave them in

harm.

And now we see in the situation, the

Gaza,

after the the bombing of those workers, and

we see the shutting down of

different, you know, charitable,

agencies, this this genocide that's happening, this starvation

that's happening, and then in Sudan, you have

a famine

Well, man, you know, this is not something

for which there's a moral dilemma to make

a call. So based on that and due

to the devastation overseas, I advise you, me

personally, to distribute zakat amongst the needy in

your local community and also

consider giving a portion of zakat to people

overseas.

This is also supported by the generality of

the verse that

that zakat is for the poor. It doesn't

doesn't

restrict. This is am, and there's no

if you take

with me. It's very universal. There's no restriction

there.

As well as the narrations

of Sayna Mo'ath which,

Buhari mentions, you know,

that

he distributed the zakat he took from Yemen

to people in Medina.

And there's a lot of discussions about that,

but that's the general meaning as Al Hafiz

ibn Hajar mentions that this is highly probable,

that that's what it meant. Took the zakat

from people in Yemen and distributed to the

underserved in Medina.

Also, make sure that when you are

designating your zakat to be sent overseas, you

tell the charity that you're donating to this

is the katul man.

Like, you have to do that.