Question (Q-02):
If somebody pays my Zakah for me using their money, will my obligation be fulfilled?
1. Zakah was necessary upon Zaid. Bakr told him that he will pay the Zakah on Zaid’s behalf and then Bakr paid Zaid’s Zakah using his own money rather than Zaid’s. Will Zaid’s Zakah be valid?
2. In the above situation will Zaid have to pay Bakr the amount of money that Bakr paid on his behalf?
3. If a husband pays for the Zakah of his wife on her behalf, is it necessary for him to first obtain her permission?
Answer:
Answer with the Help of the Almighty
1. It is not enough for Bakr to simply inform Zaid that he is paying his Zakah. In order for the Zakah to be fulfilled, Bakr has to have received Zaid’s clear and explicit permission to pay his Zakah. If this clear permission is not obtained then the Zakah will not be fulfilled.
It is stated in Al Fatawa Ar Ridhwiyyah Vol 10 Page 139;
“Permission of a third party is needed in order to fulfil a Fardh or Wajib act that involves the giving of wealth on his behalf. If permission is not obtained from the person upon whom the act is necessary then the Zakah will not be fulfillled.”
2. If Bakr had made clear that he would be reimbursed for the amount he had paid on behalf of Zaid then it will be necessary for Zaid to pay Bakr the amount of money paid by Bakr on his behalf. Otherwise it will not be necessary for Zaid to reimburse Bakr.
It is stated in Al Fatāwā Khāniyyah;
رجل أمر رجلا بأن يؤدي عنه الزكاة من مال نفسه فأدي المأمور فإنه لا يرجع علي الآمر ما لم يشترط الرجوع
The meaning of the text from Al Fatāwā Khāniyyah is that a person who commands another person to fulfil Zakah on his behalf using that other person’s own money cannot be asked to pay the other person when the other person fulfils the Zakah on his behalf unless it was made a condition that the other person will be reimbursed.
3. It is necessary to obtain permission of the wife. However in communities where it is a custom that permission of the wife is established impliedly – even without her clear and explicit words, then her Zakah will be fulfilled if her permission is established impliedly. This is because a matter that is habitually carried out is the same as the matter that is carried out with clear permission.
It is stated in Fatawa Ahl e Sunnat (Ahkam e Zakaat, published by Al Madinatul Ilmiyyah) in relation to a husband paying for the Zakah of his wife’s jewellery from his wage that the husband is permitted to do so with the permission of his wife.
The following words are from Al Hidāyah in relation to Sadaqat ul Fitr;
ولو أدي عنهم أو عن زوجته بغير أمرهم أجزأه استحسانا لثبوت الإذن عادة
“If he fulfilled Sadaqatul Fitr on behalf of his adult children and wife without their commanding him to do so then this has been deemed permissible because permission is established habitually.”
It is stated in Fath ul Qadīr of Ibn Al Humām under the aforementioned words of A Hidāyah;
بخلاف الزكاة فإنها لا عادة فيها ولو قدر فيها عادة قلنا بالإجزاء فيها أيضا
I.e. this ruling in relation to Sadaqatul Fitr is contrary to Zakah in which there is no such habit. If such a habit was proven in relation to Zakah then the payment of Zakah by a husband with implied rather than explicit permission of his wife and adult children would be permissible.
Allah the Glorified and Most High knows best
Written by: Shaykh Omar Khan
Verified by: Muftī Shamsulhudā Khān Misbāhī (Allah preserve him)
