Recipients of Zakaat

Q: Can zakaat be given to riot victims?

Q: Please advise with regards to the following situation:

1. Yusuf is indebted for R1 million. Currently he has no means to pay the amount. He is working and earning a salary of R20000 pm. However this merely suffices for his monthly household expenses. He is therefore unable to pay anything towards the debts owed.

2. He owns a twenty five percent share in a property which is vacant. The value of his share is approximately R1 million.

3. He owns a share in a business wherein he is a sleeping partner. He is currently not earning any income from this business though there is expected capital growth. His share is worth approximately a million rands.

4. He has another freehold property which he lives in, worth approximately R2 million.

QUESTION: In light of the details above, is he eligible to RECEIVE zakaat? (Some persons are prepared to help him with zakaat so that he can settle his debts).

Q: My sister and her husband have fallen on hard times. They had a thriving business but are now in debt for millions. Her husband is extremely unwell and requires constant care and assistance doing basic things e.g. taking a shower, dressing, etc.

Living with them is their son and his wife and 2 minor children. The daughter in law works as a rent collector and gets a meager income. The son is able, but does not work.

They have 2 vehicles. The one is free, the sons is not as yet paid for, so every month he borrows money from a variety of people in order to pay this vehicle off. They have dstv and WiFi.

I feel as if they expect to maintain their previous lifestyle without cutting down on unnecessary things.

1. If I am giving zakaat to them, is my zakaat properly discharged?

2. Is there any organization that can advise/help them with proper money management/out of this situation?

Q: If a man is in debt (for example R100 000 debt), is he allowed to accept zakaat to pay off the debt?

Bear in mind that the man has no assets in his name (his father has assets such as properties and a business, but the son himself has no wealth or assets). The debt is in the name of the business that the father owns, but the responsibility of the debt is the son's (the father is unaware of the debt). The son however, is in possession of stock to the value of his debt, but the stock is not selling. Can the son receive zakaat in order to pay off his debts?

Q: A Muslim man bumped into my car. He gave me the round around for 2 months. He eventually agreed to pay the panelbeater. Now he has excluded the vat amount. When I asked him for the vat amount he refused then says he will give me the vat amount as zakaat.

The full invoice of the panelbeater is what is supposed to be paid. He wants to now make it a zakaat thing thinking that I wont take it on hearing that it's zakaat. What is the ruling as the full amount is what had to be paid in the agreement of fixing me car?

Q: There are most of our relative women whose husbands don’t fall in the catogray of taking zakat, but they don’t care about these women in terms of their daily needs, continually working them in fields and if they became ill, they don’t take them to hospital. Because of illness, few died and others are suffering. Is it allowed if I support them with zakat.

Q: A maid (widow) is in dire need to buy a small room. She sells her only possession (gold worth one lakh rupees) for this purpose and hands over this amount to the middleman. The middleman is responsible for giving this one lakh to the actual owner of the room who is in another city. The owner will arrive after a month to receive payment. Is this lady eligible for zakaat after handing over the money to the middleman or will she be eligible when the money will be transferred to the actual owner after one month?

Q: It is permissible for an organization that collects and distributes Zakaat funds to purchase land with Zakaat funds and thereafter subdivide the land and give the land to worthy Zakaat recipients. 

Q:

1. Can zakaat be given to a person who has debts?

2. There are people who live a better standard of living than me. They have better cars, better clothes, go on holidays, better household items, etc. than me but they have debts due to which they are below the nisab threshold. Can I give my zakaat to them?

Q: I live in the UK for the last 14 years. I had a very difficult time till 2017. I did not have any reasonable job till 2010, then with Allah's blessings I started working as a taxi driver and paid off some of my debts. Allhamdulillah, now I have a decent job and a regular earning but I still owe a big amount (£75,000) to my family and friends which I am finding very hard to save to pay. We do have gold, just over the limit of zakat but not enough to pay off any significant amount of the money.

1. Do we need to pay zakat on the gold we have?

2. Can we get any financial help to pay off this amount we owe to family and friends? We don't owe banks much, apart from our mortgage as I have already paid off around £30,000.

3. Please guide me in this difficult situation.