Zakaat

Q: My question has two part which are as follows:

1. Can we give our zakaat money to our brother who is not living with me nor with family, he is living alone and by his own living cost?

2. Our father and mother passed away last year. We seven brothers have contributed money for (Mom/Dad) their Tadfeen and Takfeen and I have paid 600 USD on behalf of my brother (lending) who is needy, so this year my zakaat money is 470 USD and can I count and cut this zakaat money from the 600 USD which I have paid on his behalf?

Q: We inherited some jewellery from our parents, which was in the locker and after dad's death, we lost the access to the locker. Until recently we managed and weighed all jewellery and distributed among ourselves (we are four brothers and a sister) as per shariah. As no zakaat was paid on them since the father died, immediately two weeks after the distribution, my elder brother died. He didn't pay any zakaat on them. He had one wife, one son, three daughters. Are they supposed to pay zakaat for that unpaid 7 years period , and how shall they distribute among themselves?

Q: I have recently adopted a practice of distributing food among people after jumma prayers out side mosque. My question is that I am not sure whether the people who take the food are really poor people or not? So in this stance please advise whether my this practice is beneficial for me or not?

Q:

1. How will one know if a person is eligible for zakaat?

2. What happens if you give your zakaat to someone you thought was eligible but found out later that the person was not?

Q: My understanding is that for zakat; Nisab amount should be kept for more than one year. My question is if someone gets 10 Lakh two weeks before Ramadhan, does he need to pay Zakat on this amount which came to his account only two weeks before Ramadhan and is not older than one year?

Q:

1. I want to ask that if Zakaat is compulsory on the clothes which are rarely used i.e This time almost everyone has wardrobes filled with clothes from which some are used and others are rarely in use. Is zakaat fradh on these clothes or not?

2. Same way I am used to buying different books like Islamic books, Sciencebooks and others and have a huge amount of books at my home. Is Zakaat fardh on these books?

Q:

a) Do you agree with those scholars that say that an adjusted rate of Zakaat i.e. 2.577 % should be used when the figures used to calculate ones zakaat are obtained from financial information that are released on an annual basis (solar calendar) example Annual Financial Statements of multinational companies.

b) If Mufti saheb does not agree with the above, what alternative does he suggest to calculate zakaat in the absence of any other financial information?

Q: I am a widow since four months. I have two daughters which are married. I don't have any brothers. In the presence of my husband there were 13 lacs deposited in saving. Every month I receive 10 thousand from income which is not enough for monthly expenditure that's why my husband's elder brother supports me. So basically my question to you is that am I supposed to give zakat on the 13 lacs?

Q: At work they collect money for non-Muslims deceased and or their family member. Can we give money for this collection?

Q: At our school we want to ensure that all zakaats collected on behalf of Zakaat eligible learners is carried out according to Shariah. Could you please provide guidelines for accepting zakaat and using the same for payment of school fees. We also require guidance with formulating a formal appointment letter to collect zakaat for learners eligible to receive zakaat.