Zakaat

Discharging zakaat to an organisation that builds homes for widows

Q: This is how I discharge my zakaat every year:

A certain lady is in charge of an organization that builds homes for widows, so what I do, for example, 200 000 dollars is my zakaat, so I give it to her and tell her build homes for 4 widows, sometimes I give the money directly to the bank in charge of the project, is this ok?

Misplacing Zakaat money

Q: A friend of ours gave us his zakat money to send it to his other friend was in another country to distribute it there. When we contacted that foreign friend he said he doesn't know anyone so pls don't send me the money. The zakat giver had told us we can give to anyone else deserving. When we found someone suitable we realised we lost the money. We tried very hard to find it. It could be stolen. But we are not sure. What should we do. If we tell him he might get upset. Can we pay his zakat without telling him? Do we have to pay for him?

Using the Madrasah Lillah and Zakaat funds for other Deeni activities

Q: A certain madrasah utilises lillah and zakaat to run its affairs. The zakaat is used to pay the fees of the students of the madrasah and therefore becomes madrasah money. Also the madrasah is under and organisation/board that oversees the running of the madrasah. This organisation/board pays the fees of the ustaads of said madrasah. Besides the activities that are directly involved with running the madrasah, eg: feeding the students, transporting the students to and from the madrasah, lights, water, etc, will it be permissible to use the funds in other avenues which are not directly involved with the taleem and running of the madrasah? Can the madrasah funds be used to buy plane tickets for the ustaads to attend jors in cape town?can the funds be used to book in to hotel rooms if the ustaads are going to teach in a town that is 2 hours away from the madrasah? s it permissible to use the funds in other similar activities as mentioned above? Please explain in detail which avenues will it be permissible to use the funds and what will be the procedure to follow before these funds can be used?

Accepting funds or donations from Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies to run clinics in poor areas

Q: The Islamic Medical Association runs clinics in poor areas around Durban, where the Govt has no services for these people.  Funds are running out as more and more medicines are needed to help people.  So far no other money except those given as lillah by the muslim community has been used. Can a Muslim organization, in this case the Islamic Medical Association accept funds or donations from Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies to do its work in servicing the medical needs of the indigent population?  

Muslim Organization involved in Natural Disasters accepting funds from Haraam sources

Q: Can a Muslim Organization that is involved with disasters, eg., floods, fires, earthquakes, etc. use funds from haraam sources to do its work?  For instance, can they use funds donated to them from a Pop concert, or a financial institution dealing in interest related transactions like Investec?  What if the donations are not separated from the “halaal” moneys given to them by muslims and all donations are pooled together?  In most cases, the organization does not know where the funds are coming from.  The funds are deposited directly into their bank account, unless an organization like Investec tells them that funds are being transferred into their account.