Zakat money for tsunami relief

9-2-2005 | IslamWeb

Question:

Would it be ok to use the Zakaah money for the use in Tsunami relief effort?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

Allaah has specified in His Book the categories of people on whom Zakat money should be spent; this is clarified in Fatwa 82140.

Therefore, it is not permissible to pay the Zakat money to people other than those who are eligible to it whether they are among the victims of this earthquake or otherwise.

Finally, it should be mentioned that Zakat should only be paid to Muslims and it should not be given to non-Muslims. However, it is permissible to give donations other than Zakat to non-Muslims.

Allaah Knows best.