Authorizing the Poor to Purchase Zakat Al-Fitr and Taking Possession For Himself

Question: 408176

Is it permissible for me to authorize someone, to whom I intend to give the Zakat al-Fitr, to purchase the food items – which are from the staple foods of the country – provided that the food items are not used until after the sunset of the last day of Ramadan, knowing that this person is in a state of extreme need, and I have no other means to deliver the Zakat al-Fitr to him?

Answer

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

There is no harm in sending money to a poor person and authorizing him to purchase the Zakat Al-Fitr on your behalf, and to take possession of it for himself a day or two before `Eid.

Some Jurists stipulated that one should intend the Zakat after purchasing it, because after the purchase it becomes a deposit with him (i.e., he is entrusted with it), so one needs to intend to disburse it as charity for Fitr.

Others did not stipulate this, and it is the prevailing opinion, sufficing with the authorization in the purchase, and that it includes authorization in its intention.

It is stated in "I`anat al-Talibin" (2/207): "If one says to another: 'Receive my debt from so-and-so, and it is for you as Zakat,' it is not sufficient until he (the creditor) intends it after receiving it, then he permits him to take it.

Some of them issued a fatwa that absolute authorization in its disbursement implies authorization in its intention." End quote.

Please see the answer to question (339075 ).

And Allah knows best.

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