Giving the servant his salary from Zakah Fatwa No: 147951
- Fatwa Date:24-1-2011
assalamoalaikum, my que is that can we gv zakat as salary to servernt ? or i shd gve extra money as zakat bcz my mum gve them pay n cn she do neeyat of zakat pls ans sm one has told me u cn gv them zakat guide me
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
It is not permissible to pay the salary of the servant from the Zakah because that salary is the right of the servant which he gets in return for his work. Therefore, your mother giving the salary of the servant from the Zakah does not make her acquitted from paying the Zakah as she did not pay the right which was due on the money that she possessed, but she paid a right which she was obliged to pay for another reason. Therefore, she has to pay the Zakah on all the previous years in which she paid the salary from the Zakah.
As regards giving Zakah money to the servant in addition to his salary, then this is permissible provided that he is eligible for Zakah. For more benefit on the categories of people who are eligible for Zakah, please refer to Fatwa 88368, and to Fatwa 82140 on the ruling of giving Zakah to the servant.
Allaah Knows best.