Question:
As-Salaam Alaikum,
I trust you are well. I have a question regarding a Mosque Organisation (The Trust) that I help to run.
The Trust collects donations from members of the public and uses them for community projects which they run, food, general maintenance of the Mosque/properties and for purchasing property/land.
We would like to simplify this process and have only two boxes (Sadaqah Wajiba & Sadaqah Nafila).
1. Could you provide a list of donations which would come under each category (i.e: Sadaqah, Zakat, Kaffarah, Sadaqatul-Fitr etc)
2. Where someone has donated Sadaqah Nafila to the Trust – can the Trust use it for any purpose it sees fit?
If you could reply to this email, we would be most grateful. Jazakallah
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The following would come under ṣadaqah wājibah:
– Zakāh
– Ṣadaqah al-Fiṭr
– Kaffārah
– Nadhr (vow)
It is necessary to dispense Ṣadaqah al-Fiṭr/Zakāh al-Fiṭr to its lawful recipients prior to the ‘īd ṣalāh. Hence, a separate collection should be made solely for Ṣadaqah al-Fiṭr and must be distributed to its rightful recipients at its correct time.
The following would fall under ṣadaqah nāfilah:
– General donations given to the masjid
– General charity which was not given due to a vow etc.
Ṣadaqah nāfilah may be used for the trust whilst ṣadaqah wājibah can only be given to the poor and needy (i.e. the lawful recipients of zakāh). However, it should be made clear that the ṣadaqah nāfilah will be used by the trust and will not be delivered to the poor, hence, if one wishes to send his ṣadaqah to the poor, he may put his money in the ṣadaqah wājibah box.
You may visit the following link for more details:
http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/17965
And Allah knows best
(Mufti) Bilal al-Mahmudi
Concurred by: Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi