Zakat Is Not for Hors d’Oeuvres

A guide to zakat-eligibility and avoiding misdirecting its distribution

BY AHMED SHAIKH

As things generally stand, much of the zakat given in the U.S. by wealthy Muslims ends up circulating among themselves, whether by design or misunderstanding. God admonishes Muslims that “… wealth will not merely circulate among your rich” (Quran, 59:7).

We can do better.

Many fatwas state that zakat can mean almost anything. While making no claims about the individual rulings’ integrity or quality, however, we should lament this demoralizing and socially unjust campaign’s cumulative effect to “anythingify” zakat.

I attempt to provide a guide that takes into consideration the economic impacts of your worship.

EVERYTHING IS “FI SABILILLAH” For many centuries, our community’s religious scholars have interpreted this category of zakat eligibility (i.e., fi sabilillah) as being limited primarily to warfare. However, fi sabilillah has gradually become the conventional go-to for nonprofit organizations eager to repurpose your worship for anything and everything.

Instead of getting caught up in the debates about its meaning or the different scholarly opinions, ask yourself the following question: Do you want your zakat to benefit the needy or the well-to-do? Not infrequently, the affluent nonprofit corporations appeal for your zakat fi sabilillah to support their own projects and the related expenses.

Some nonprofits have cynically promoted fi sabilillah as a classic catch-all category, which indicates that they are profoundly non-seriousness, even frivolous, about their fellow Muslims’ worship.

The Muslim nonprofit sector has created and normalized this “zakat loophole,” thereby moving this core pillar of Islam away from its main purpose: taking care of the community’s poor as part of living their faith.

CHARITY VS. MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS All Muslims benefit from giving zakat, for doing so fulfills an act of worship and religious obligation. We may even feel good about ourselves afterward. With other kinds of charity, however, donors tend to benefit from the value of the dollars contributed because their contributions benefit themselves. This type of giving is like giving zakat to yourself.

Listed below are a few common examples found in our community.

◆ Mosques.

A mosque is a classic mutual benefit organization. If you donate to it and the salary goes to an imam, the value created was the great khutba you heard. Given that money only has value when spending it, your donation was not for a khateeb but for you to benefit from him. Similarly, the good resulting from your contribution was not the building itself, but that you and others had the opportunity to pray in it.

Historically and still today, many mosques do not accept zakat for their operations. This may seem odd to many who see fi sabilillah as a zakat category, since mosques would seem to be in that category.

Some mosques do accept zakat when they are running behind schedule for raising funds for a construction or major project, or if they just feel the need for more money. It’s always easy to find a fatwa that gives desperate mosque board members the permission they need. Muslim donors can generally see the recirculation problem here more starkly and are more likely to object to their mosque accepting zakat for such purpose.

This “recirculation” problem affects other classes of charities as well.

◆ Civil Rights and Political Advocacy Organizations.

These types of organizations, which do not specifically focus on the needy, also deploy the fi sabilillah claim. In fact, much of their activity is framed as benefiting all Muslims. In truth, however, they actually often benefit the most affluent among us.

Advocacy groups focus on lobbying, finding internships for young people and pursuing interfaith and media relations while concentrating their efforts and energy on their affluent donor base.

As such, they sometimes spend significant sums on sumptuous fundraising events and expenses to attract potential donors who are far from impoverished. If you go to a small fundraiser at your friend’s home, somebody’s zakat probably paid for the hors d’oeuvres that you end up eating.

Yes, some civil rights and political advocacy groups may be doing good work, and not all of it is for the affluent. However, you may consider donating non-zakat funds if you feel strongly about their mission. Given that your zakat is an economic act of worship, you would do well to consider it a right of the needy, rather than a right of multi-million-dollar nonprofit corporations.

◆ Dawa and Educational Organizations.

Generally, if you or your family members benefit from an organization, it is a mutual benefit organization. In Muslim contexts, this means that your zakat dollars circulate back to your or to people with a similar socioeconomic background.

Some educational organizations may have a “zakat policy” that segregates zakat funds and uses them only to benefit those who are eligible to receive them. Scrutinizing such things is essential.

Another related category here is those organizations that produce content that you might read or watch on the internet. Donating to such organizations is similar to contributing to a mosque. But you don’t donate zakat to an organization to hire someone at $100,000 a year to produce internet content. Rather, you do so to benefit those who read the articles or watch the YouTube videos. Thus, if you and your children read those articles or watch the videos, you are the actual beneficiaries.

Unfortunately, some of our media operations ask for zakat and offer supportive

SOME NONPROFITS HAVE CYNICALLY PROMOTED FI SABILILLAH AS A CLASSIC CATCH-ALL CATEGORY, WHICH INDICATES THAT THEY ARE PROFOUNDLY NON-SERIOUSNESS, EVEN FRIVOLOUS, ABOUT THEIR FELLOW MUSLIMS’ WORSHIP.

fatwas. But you must understand that such zakat only transfers the value of your dollars to yourself. If you look beyond the fatwas and consider the economic impact, this is among the worst possible ways to give your zakat.

If you like dawa and education, pay for it — with non-zakat dollars.

◆ Blanket Claims of “Zakat-Eligibility”

Please beware of any Muslim charity that claims that all of its operations are zakat-eligible, for such blanket claims are absurd on their face no matter how many Islamic scholars claim otherwise. Is paying a $5,000 honorarium to a wealthy banquet speaker zakat-eligible? Was that grandfather clock displayed in the CEO’s office zakat-eligible? Every nonprofit, even those dedicated to the poor, have some line items in their expense account that are not zakat-eligible, unless you believe that zakat is a joke religious practice.

Blanket claims of zakat eligibility happen in two places; one is deceptive, the other is obvious. To identify the first one, look at the donation button. If there is only one donation button and no statement that zakat is separated from other donations, the organization is indicating that all of its operations are zakat-eligible.

The second and more deceptive practice is when the charity includes an option to donate zakat. This option is either coupled with an excessively wide zakat claim (like the ever-suspect fi sabilillah) or provides no explanation as to how it distributes zakat differently from everything else it does. The whole pitch is limited to proclaiming that it is a wonderful organization that does fantastic work. As they are not transparent about a zakat policy, the separate donation buttons are often only for show.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A ZAKAT POLICY If a large organization cannot be bothered to create a well-thought-out zakat policy, you should seriously consider donating elsewhere. Of course, zakat policies may vary in complexity, depending upon the organization’s activities and size. Suppose a local charity or mosque zakat committee tells you that all of the zakat collected is distributed among the local poor people instead of part of it being used to meet overhead expenses. That is an adequate zakat policy for a small organization, although it should publish this policy and be transparent about it.

If the organization in question is a service organization or an educational institution, it may well — or should — have a much more elaborate zakat policy. You need to see who the actual beneficiaries are, or if the stated “zakat policy” is just another way of making everything zakat-eligible.

If you want your zakat to benefit actual human beings in need, you should scrutinize every charity on that basis.

THIS OBLIGATION IS ON YOU Zakat is your obligation and your worship. Unfortunately, Muslims often use the “proof” from a scholar published on the nonprofit’s website as an excuse to turn off their brains. When you decide to fulfill your zakat obligation, always start by assessing the economic impact of your dollars. You can get into the weeds of fiqh all you want, but if you end up doing no more than just transferring part of your wealth from the affluent to the affluent, assume that you are probably doing it incorrectly.

This is not aimed at discouraging paying zakat, but only to urge that observing zakat rules is important. And one is perfectly free to donate non-zakat funds to organizations and projects of choice. ih

Ahmed Shaikh, co-author of “Estate Planning for the Muslim Client” (American Bar Association Publishing, 2019), is a Southern Californiabased estate planning attorney. He writes a newsletter focused on Muslim leadership and nonprofit issues at ehsan.substack.com.