He gave him zakaah when he was not entitled to it
Question My brother has a mental disability and some people gave us zakaah for him. Please note that my brother is not in need and he has his own income which reaches the nisaab, and zakaah is paid on it. What should we do with this money that came to us? Do we have the…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
If your brother is independent of means or has someone who
spends on him, then he is not entitled to zakaah and it is not permissible
for you to accept any money that comes that you know is zakaah. You have
to tell the one who is giving zakaah that your brother is not entitled to
it, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said
concerning zakaah: “No one who is independent of means or who is strong
and able to earn a living should have any share in it.” Narrated by Abu
Dawood, 1391 and al-Nasaa’i, 2551; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood.
And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
“Charity is not permissible for a rich person, or for one who is strong and
healthy.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 1329; al-Tirmidhi, 589; al-Nasaa’i, 2550;
Ibn Maajah, 1829. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Sunan al-Nasaa’i.
Whatever you have of this money must be given back to the one
who gave it, so that he can give it to someone who is entitled to it. But if
he delegates you to give it to people who are entitled to zakaah, there is
nothing wrong with that.
It says in Mataalib Ooli al-Nuha (2/259): If zakaah is
given to someone who is not entitled to it, because the giver was unaware of
that, the one who took it has to return it to him with any increase in it,
whether in weight or in the form of offspring [as in the case of a donated
sheep, camel, etc], because it is in increase in the giver’s wealth. End
quote.
And Allah knows best.
