Collecting zakat and charity for a needy-student initiative

A question about collecting zakat and charity for a needy-student initiative, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that there is no objection to collecting voluntary charity for the "Dinar" initiative supporting students, but zakat may be collected for it only under conditions: it must reach eligible students as their property, be kept in a separate account from voluntary charity, and not be held back to pay out in monthly instalments. ¹

The questioner asked about collecting zakat and voluntary charity for the "Dinar" initiative, which supports needy students with the costs of their studies. ¹

The Department answered that Islam encourages taking the initiative in good works, including devising ideas that encourage others to do good, citing a hadith narrated by Muslim whose meaning is that whoever establishes a good practice in Islam has its reward and the reward of those who act on it after him; there is no objection to launching the initiative to collect voluntary charity for a group of students. ¹ Collecting zakat for the initiative, however, is permitted only under conditions. First, the volunteer who collects and distributes it is the agent of those paying zakat and holds what he receives in trust, so the money must reach Muslim students who are eligible to receive zakat, by being transferred to their ownership. ¹ Second, zakat and voluntary charity must be kept apart, each in a separate account, since it is forbidden to deliberately delay zakat once due and payable in order to pay it to students in monthly instalments; whoever does so usurps the right of the poor. It quoted Mughni al-Muhtaj (2/129) that zakat must be paid at once, and whoever delays it sins and is liable if the wealth perishes. ¹ The Department stressed that donors of voluntary charity must be told the purpose of the collection and how it will be spent. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3713, dated 19 June 2022. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.