Top seminaries prohibit Zakat for celebrity-run charities
Five top seminaries in the country have issued a fatwa (religious opinion) that Zakat (alms) cannot be given to welfare organisations run by artists and that anyone who does so would be committing a sin. Last week, a media group based in Karachi sent a question on the matter to Jamia Naeemia and Jamia Ashrafia in Lahore, and Jamia Binoria, Darul Uloom Karachi and Darul-Uloom Naeemia in Karachi. Most of the seminaries belong to the Deobandi school of thought.
The question framed before the religious scholars was “every year some welfare organisations run by singers, film actors and slapstick comedians enthusiastically collect charity. Their modus operandi and credibility is not conformed to Islam. The people working in them have no inclination towards religion and people have no access to check the spending of these organisations. Is it fair to give zakat to them?”
Mufti Muhammad Rafi Usmani, Mufti Muhammad Naeem, Chairman Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, Mufti Shahid Obaid and Maulana Ibtsam Elahi Zaheer in their written response clearly said that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and welfare organisations run by artists do not qualify for Zakat and Fitra.
The scholars claimed that artists spend the money to make their offices instead of doing welfare work. The head of Jamia Naeemia said that NGOs that are involved in spreading “anti-Islam” activities in the country such as “obscenity” should not be given any money, while Mufti Shahid Obaid of Jamia Ashrafia not only barred zakat and fitra to artists, but also usher and hides of sacrificial animals.
Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at University of Central Punjab Dr Khalid Zaheer told The Express Tribune that the question put up before the ulema (Islamic scholars) was biased.
“It only tried to steer the ulema to respond in a yes or no. Regardless of whether someone is a cricketer, artist or maulvi, the important question is if the money given to them is honestly being spent on the welfare of the poor. The opinion given by ulema is not a new phenomenon, but to us it is unfathomable.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2011.
COMMENTS (54)
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How dare these singer-types ruin our business! These actors are just spending the money on commoners' welfare wheras it is meant for our tummies welfare!
Karamat Bhatty strikes again at an important issue . All of us wanna be money-wise , so why not when performing a religious rite . The opinion of the ulema (FATWA) brings forth a very relevent matter which surely is going to effect the way we think & behave in our day-to-day ritual life .
@Student of Islam: You forgot to add inflation tax anywhere b/w 12-30%.
I would like to ask all who are referring to Islamic teachings for Zakat system that does the govt in the times of Holy Prophet (PBUH) or the four califs which followed him, used to charge any tax of any kind from Muslims other than 2.5% Zakat? (Jazia was from Non-Muslims) Presently, we all are paying direct and indirect taxes to our Govt (25-30% of our income in shape of fuel, electricity, traveling, dad to day items-GST etc), Is it in teaching with islamic economic system...? Because, I know one thing that exemption is offered by the govt to all tax payers on the amount paid by them as Zakat in bank or some declared Zakat seeking institution (like Eidi etc) and it can be mentioned while filing the annual income tax return. Same amount is deducted from the total tax payable...! Please Mulana Sahib if any reading this, put us wise and the Govt also if you can....!
@Salman Latif:
Let me educate you a bit. Most of the Zakat money is actually grabbed by non-Mullah secular parties like PPP and MQM.
Most important is to give zakat to the needy persons around you.this is a basic obligation on evry muslim who falls under the category of SAHB E NISAB.agar ham sahb e nisab hain to Allah hamen zakat ada karne ki tofiq ata farmai.
Here's a simple yardstick for a Mullah's fatwa: If it profits him, its not only halal, he'll tell you that you also get bonus heavenly rewards in return. It if affects his economy adversely, it's haram and a vile sin.
Fitrana or Fitra has no scriptural license. No scholar could give me the meaning of Fitrana. This is based on fabricated ahadis and is parallel to Zakat which is Farz.
@Jamaluddin: You are right. Giving fatwa is only Allah's prerogative. It is ordained in Quran at various places. Please read:says
2:219,215, 217, 220, 189 4:176, 5:4, 7:187, 8:1, 17:85, 18:283, 20:105, 79:42.
Allah says:
قُلْ هَلْ مِن شُرَكَائِكُم مَّن يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ ۚ قُلِ اللَّـهُ يَهْدِي لِلْحَقِّ ۗ أَفَمَن يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ أَحَقُّ أَن يُتَّبَعَ أَمَّن لَّا يَهِدِّي إِلَّا أَن يُهْدَىٰ ۖ فَمَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ
Ask: "Is there one among those you associate with God who can show the way to the truth?" Say: "It is God who shows the way to truth." Then who is more worthy of being followed -- He who guides to the truth, or he who cannot find the path until shown the way? What has happened to you that you judge in such a wise? (10:35)
Apathy towards Quran is very risky.
So celebrities are corrupt, as opposed to these sanctimonious, holier-than-thou mullahs who have never been caught embezzling money? Right?
In fact, I would recommend that people stop feeding these mullah-run charity organizations because it's quite likely that a good part of this money is leaking out to extremist groups tearing this country asunder. Edhi is the most trust-worthy organization at the moment, but most celebrities are doing a commendable job too.
I would not be too surprised that this question was sent by GEO people (Jang Group), because they are in a habit of stirring mischief.
@Aziz Abdullah:
Which world do you live? Irony us that more students of so called modern education are unemployed today than those madrassah students.
Very interesting fatwa. The true spirit is whether the zakat is spent or not on the masarif that are prescribed in Quran. And its spending should be done with transparency so that accounts are verifiable.Then even it is managed by a teacher, a singer, a cricketer, there can't be manager-specific restriction as to who can spend it or who can't. Here there is a clear conflict of interest also the fatwa giving moulvis are beneficiaries of the zakat if it is not distributed hrough other social workers. Work of cricketer Imran Khan, singer Abrar ul Haq, singer Shehzad Roy can be seen on ground delivering direly needed services to humanity while hardly any such institutional level work is visible by these fatwa giving moulvis.
If zakat is donated to them they would spend it on giving themselves salaries as teachers of madaris, where they teach books written 5-6 centuries ago and interestingly Quran is not the major part of the curriculum. You can check the syllabus of madaris and see for yourself or read book 'Kisi Aur Zamanay ka khawab" by Barrister Zafarullah Khan on the issue of madrissa's syllabus. How valuable citizen id a student prepared by these madaris, one can know by example around us.
Why dont we read Quran and develop some sense by ourselves and remain confined to Allah's boundires? Why do we ask about Allah's Deen from human beings?. Is Allah going to back their fataawa on the judgement day? Obviously not.
The MAN is a true PAKISTANI. HIS foundation is true to ISLAM. Why look any further when EDHI is available.
When the judiciary/govt. nexus is "weak" the seminaries make the law..
@OA: Dear I dont think all five alims are so innocent that they dont know the content and extract of very simple question. Question was very clear and direct, but their answer and Fatiwa is biased.
Yes it is hard to check the detailed accounts of these donations, but eventually it is visible what these hospitals are serving for, at-least it is in open of every common man.
"Their modus operandi and credibility is not conformed to Islam. The people working in them have no inclination towards religion and people have no access to check the spending of these organisations."
Where do you see these qualities in the government of Pakistan - which gets the greatest portion of Zakat!
Interesting thing is that most of them who are vowing not to give Zakat to Mullahs are actually those who have never given Zakat in their lives. Infact they don't even know all the requirements of Zakat. Such soldiers just give Zakat in comments section. LOL
Thats it, I am going to give all my Zakat to celebrities instead of these retarded mullahs from now on. At-least these celebrities are more honest and humane as compared to the mullahs.
Qazi took 14 crore rupees in the name of the Kashmire fund and no one knows where dud he spent.
Qazi father was a moulvi and have one chirag (mud lamp) at his home when Qazi was a child. Now Qazi owns a big villa in Islamabad and his son is studying in USA. Muslims are humbly waiting for Qazi son to finish his studies...., come back and join the ranks of the faithful to struggle against the evil west. Qazi son struggle very hard in the USA to get a American degree, he worked day and night to get good grades in the semester.. He really love Pakistan and he will serve Pakistan like his father, because he admire his father alot, his father is an ideal for him. Musharaf was bad but Qazi is good.
Why are celebrity artists doing charity work today - Just to add to their fame which helps their business & fan following
Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam and is a mandatory one. Its masarif are clearly defined in books, but only if we would read the relevant books we would know them. It is your individual responsibility to validate the Islamic content available and transmitted through media or the internet. Also, it is your responsibility to even validate the target of your zakat disposal and whether it qualifies according to the Islamic Sharia. For this purpose, you can refer to Islamic literature available in the form of books and refer to those local Ulema or Mufti's which you feel and know are competent authority for the subject.
People don't want to give Zakat to maddarasa ? ... no problem, they will have to lose even more money in term of 'Bhata' ... How happier their faces are when some thug snatches their money and still call it ... 'We don't take Bhata, we only take Fitra and Zakat' but they don't tell u how :)
@True Muslim: Why not go and give to some x actress ... u will get more sawab
desperate measures form the Mullahs.... guess they r going bank corrupt & are feeling the heat of economic crisis :) ....
Instead of bashing the fatwa in the comments section, I think it would be prudent for critics to personally distribute their zakat to the needy and troubled white collar families who cannot beg or rob but are forced to live from hand to mouth.
Zakat is an obligation and it is completed only after it has reached the deserving, therefore instead of trusting others (charities/political parties) to fulfill your obligation, it is always better to complete the job yourself and avoid all controversies!
I just cannot trust these fatwas neither i truly trust the singers. The best way I think is to go out and spend you zakat yourself in poor people, in schools, in hospitals, anywhere but try to do that yourself with your own hands. It would give you internal satisfaction.
In a nutshell, why should all kinds of people enter into the business of collecting zakat, hides, fitra and so forth? Let the givers give it to the people described in the Quran as eligible for these charities. Then there will be no competition and no fighting. No institution whether mullah or artists should collect charity.
@Bangash: Dear Brother, just for once go to the interior parts of your province and analyze for Your Self (and not just accept whatever the "TV-ANCHORS" portray) that who ACTUALLY is STILL working out there before you blame the "MULLAHS" for keeping all the money in their pockets... Whether its Al-Khidmat from Jamaat-e-Islami or Falah-e-Insaniyat from Jamaat-ud-Dawa, all are not only active but honest too... [Mind that both above mentioned parties are those of "MULLAHS" and from different schools of thought-I found out all by myself-didn't believe what the media portrayed because there was too much conflict in what the media said and what the "MULLAHS" said!]
I 100% agree with @Enraged.
These things can be discussed in detail with open mind at a later time. Anyway there is a thin line between a 'fatwa' and a 'legislature'. I am afraid for the day when people will stand up and say NO even to good things to what Molana sahib says. Atleast that's what happened to Roman Catholic Church.
Baqi mazhab ka mazaq wesay hi kafi bana dia molvi's ne...
So the answer in my opinion should have been that do your own research on what the organization is doing and then give your donations instead of just calling someone's efforts anti-Islam or non-Islamic! What if I am comfortable with the work an organization is doing? Even then I am committing a sin? How about the charity being promoted by "Mohsin-e-Pakistan" AQ Khan? Is that permissible because he is not an artist? Maybe artists promoted charities are not permissible but con-artists run charities are permissible!!! Subhan Allah!!!!
i think i trust shehzad roy more than all moulvis and scholars put together. the work he is doing is actually making a difference aur uss ki niyat par koi shaaqq nahin.
It's better to give donations to singers and actors than these mullahs. Atleast one can be sure that the money will not go to terrorism.
Effort for Rizq e Halal is mandatory on all the Muslims. I have never seen a Molvie working for Rizq E Halal. He is a parcite on the society. Most of his earning comes from charities. He cannot afford to leave some one else collecting charity because it is a dent in his financial scheme. This Fitwa has more to do with the financial affairs of Molvies than religon.
With all due respect and i'm not questioning the authority of these religious scholars neither have any such intention but its exactly the same as it happened with Baghdad that when Halaku Khan was about to rampage the city the scholars were discussing weather crow is Halal or Haram. Come on guys we'll get time for this if we can save Pakistan, our existence is at stake and we are discussing secondary issues!
Dear fellows
If anyone could clear me that the objection for not giving the Charity to artist run public facilities is due to;
1: They are not consumed properly? OR 2: The lead of charity is in a profession forbidden in Islam?
If it is reason one, then we need a detail audit to establish the fact. But what the above news is actually about.
For Mr. Bilal: Dont go so harsh without knowing the actual reality. What the Ulema said, what media report and what actual query was .... There are many ifs and buts!
Great decision. No one should deny this fatwa. Fatwa is given by prominent ulemas and Mufties from different sects.
At the end of the report, the scholars wrote: "In nutshell give Zakat, usher and hides of animal to us. :)" (yup, they did type a smiley)
This logic inadvertently declares giving Zakat to the government also a sin because the "people have no access to check the spending of the organization" and I am pretty sure that the money collected by Government institutions in the name of Zakat is used to "make their offices instead of doing welfare work." (not only offices, but also houses, BMWs, Birkins, Armanis etc etc)
How do these scholars know what these charities spend money on or not... Their madrassas and mosques and charities are probably looting more money than these singers and actors... Shameful...
oh my my, the mualana's must be losing zakat/chanda to these god less NGO's for them to come out with this fatwa. Why don't our government comes out with a body to regulate these fatwa spewing mullah's. I for once will never give my zakat to any Pakistani religious organization.
I guess this will also become a mafia .... reminds me of the roman catholic church and its money politics
the masa'arif of zakat are very very well defined in definite terms in Qura'an.... doesn't leave any ambiguity... u can't give to any institution leave aside NGOs and charity orgs.... it has to be individuals falling in seven categories defined......
Strange. SO giving charity to Shehzad Roy who is doing exemplary work in the area of education is wrong but giving it to JuD which is a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba which believes in killing and terror is Ok?
The question posed to the scholars is so biased... any one with basic knowledge would have said the same thing. Khalid Zaheer is quite right in pointing out the flaw.
it's better to give charity to non religious organisations because atleast then the person donating knows his/her money will not be used to create more suicide bombers.
Yes all money should just go into mullah pockets instead.
Zakat should also not be given to any 'charity' organization run by sectarian molvi because all these money will eventually end up funding the terrorism and suicide bombing in Pakistan in mosques, Mazars and Markets and killing innocent Pakistanis.
Zakat's main deserving people are around once relatives, friends and family friends, the best way to consume zakat money is to give someone who want to start his business for living or want to complete his or her education. Another good propose is to give it to those parents who need it to cover the cost of their daughter’s marriage.
how can we check the spending for religious organizations? Do they spend the money correctly? Look at Hajj Corruption Case. I mean this is just non-sense. These seminaries think that what ever they are doing is correct, rest every thing is rubbish. I fail to understand their mindset.