His deputy gave the zakaah of his wealth in the form of foodstuff; is that acceptable or does he have to give it again?

Question: 233471

I give the zakaah of my wealth in Ramadan. This year – 1436 AH – I sent it to Yemen, to villages around the city of Ta‘z, but my deputy bought basic foodstuffs, such as flour, and distributed it to needy women, and he gave cash to some other people. Should I give zakaah again, or can it be accepted in the form of foodstuff?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

With regard to
zakaah, it must be given in the form of cash if the wealth in question is
cash, and it is not permissible to give it in the form of other items or
foodstuff, except in cases where there is a real need to give it in the form
of particular items. We have discussed that in the answer to question no.
138684.

Based on that:

If the real need
may be met by giving the zakaah of one’s wealth in the form of food, such as
if the poor person is foolish or feebleminded, and cannot handle wealth
properly, and if he is given money he will spend it in foolish ways and
would neglect his dependents, or if the need in that land for foodstuff was
urgent, because of shortages even if people had wealth, or if the poor
person’s need for food was greater than his need for cash, or the poor
person gave the deputy permission to do that, and the like, so that the
deputy gave the zakaah in the form of food because of that need – then in
that case what he did was valid and acceptable.

But he should
not have disposed of the wealth of the one who appointed him to do that
except with his permission.

But if there was
no real cause to give the zakaah in the form of food; rather the deputy
decided to do that without referring to the one who had appointed him – then
the one who appointed him must give zakaah again in the form of cash, to
make up for what his deputy gave in the form of food.

In this case,
the deputy is liable for his mistake, and he must return that wealth to the
one who appointed him, because he disposed of the wealth in a wrong manner,
without the permission of the owner of that wealth.

Ibn Qudaamah
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The deputy does
not have the right to dispose of the wealth except in the manner indicated
by the permission given by the one who appointed him, whether on the basis
of what he said or on the basis of custom, because his options for disposal
of the wealth are restricted by the instructions of the one who appointed
him to distribute it.

End quote from
al-Mughni (5/95)

And Allah knows
best.

Source:

Islam Q&A

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