is it ok

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Question #3854: Giving sadaqah (charity) to non-Muslims

1) It is ok to give sadaqa to non-muslim especially in this country?
2) Someone (probably muslim) beg for specific amount of money. What Islam say to deal with such situation? Please also mention this situation when the begger is non_muslim?
3) Is the same ruling for the first two question would be applicable to begger who are on drugs/alcohol, etc? It may be possible they may use money for wrong doing.

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

1 - It is permissible to give charity – other than the obligatory charity (zakaah etc.) – to poor non-Muslims, especially if they are relatives, on condition that they do not belong to people who are in a state of war against us and have not committed acts of aggression that would preclude our treating them kindly. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion nor drove you out of your homes. Verily, Allaah loves those who deal with equity. It is only as regards those who fought against you on account of religion, and have driven you out of your homes, and helped to drive you out, that Allaah forbids you to befriend them. And whosoever will befriend them, then such are the Zaalimoon (wrongdoers those who disobey Allaah” [al-Mumtahinah 60:8-9]

Asmaa’ bint Abi Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “My mother came to me when she was still a mushrikah – at the time when there was a peace treaty between Quraysh and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) – accompanied by her father. I consulted the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), saying, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, my mother has come to me and she is asking for help. Should I uphold the ties of kinship with her?’ He said, ‘Yes, uphold the ties of kinship with her.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 2946).

It was narrated that a Jewish woman came begging to ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) and she gave her something. The Jewish woman said to ‘Aa’ishah, “May Allaah protect you from the punishment of the grave.” ‘Aa’ishah did not like that, and when she saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) she asked him about it and he said “No.” ‘Aa’ishah said: “Then later on, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘It has been revealed to me that you will be tried in your graves.’” (Musnad Ahmad, no. 24815).

These two ahaadeeth indicate that it is permissible to give charity to the kuffaar. But it is not permissible to give zakaah funds to the poor among the kuffaar, because zakaah can only be given to Muslims to spend on the poor and needy among them as mentioned in the aayah of zakaah.

Imaam al-Shaafa'i said: “There is nothing wrong with giving charity to a mushrik as a naafilah (supererogatory) action, but he has no right to charity from the obligatory (zakaah). Allaah praised people who, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): ‘… they give food, inspite of their love for it (or for the love of Him), to the Miskeen (the poor), the orphan, and the captive’ [al-Insaan 76:8].” (Kitaab al-Umm, part 2).

Giving charity to poor Muslims is preferable and more befitting, because spending on them helps them to obey Allaah, and it helps them in both their worldly and spiritual affairs. This helps to strengthen the bonds among Muslims, especially nowadays when the poor among the Muslims far outnumber the rich. And Allaah is the One Whose help we seek.

2 – If the person who is asking for the money is Muslim and is definitely in need, then give him what you can in charity. The same applies even if he is not Muslim. But it is better for Muslims who are in need to refrain from begging in the streets. If they have no other choice, they should go to Islamic charity organizations which exist to channel charitable donations to the poor and needy. By the same token, those who want to give charity can also contact reliable charitable organizations so that their charity will reach those who deserve it.

3 – If the person who is asking for money –regardless of whether he is a Muslim or a kaafir – is asking for it in order to commit sin and buy something that is haraam, or he is going to use the money to help him to do something haraam, then it is not permissible to give that charity to him, because by doing so, one is helping him to commit that haraam action. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Help you one another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression” [al-Maa’idah 5:2]

And Allaah knows best.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com)

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well said. may God grant you more strength to carry on with your good work. you’ll face hardships and obstacles, but doin’t let them detter your aim. don’t listen & argue with people who can’t even understand what you are talking about. mosque is not only a house to worship, but is a shelter for the needy and can provide food and medical help if required [and affordable]

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Yes, exactly my point! Furqan was about to donate money to some needy people, but instead you asked him to donate the money to the cause of constructing a masjid. Now, I don’t think we need Islamic scholars to tell us.. which is the nobler cause of the 2.

Did I say construction of any masjid is a mistake? I was just ticked off at the fact that you felt constructing a masjid is more important than feeding the hungry.

Yes.. injustice of any kind isn’t bearable( atleast for me). But I don’t just care about our “brothers and sisters” .. I do keep in mind that people of other faiths are human beings like myself.
And what makes u think my family doesn’t help the needy? Lajawab, I ain’t no cyber maulavi like you.. who just believes in pissing ppl off on some discussion board.. and trying to be a pious muslim by the way of putting other faiths down, and following the scriptures without even trying to understand the real gist behind them. My family supports 3 orphan kids back in India.. and all the zakaat etc goes to the poor people.

Yes.. I give a damn to your cause if it means overlooking the bigger problems around your masjidless community. Your people don’t have a place to offer namaz.. yeah.. that is terrible etc etc.. but I guess people have bigger problems than just finding a place to congregate.. hold lectures.. have aftari etc… some people don’t have anything on their iftaari plates. This is a bigger problem in my eyes. I’ll say it again. If u believe in allah with all your heart and if u have a clean janamaz(spelling?) there is nothing more you need to offer prayers.

Yes.. when famine strikes a country.. does the mother collect donations for a place for the whole community to pray as one or cares about feeding her hungry kids? Think about it…

Do you feed a the hungry or build a shelter for them?
Well, i don’t say sheltering the homeless is not a good cause, but the money that is to go into the construction of a masjid.. mandir.. church.. cud feed thousands of people or help many poor kids get their education etc.

I really don’t get the concept of buliding a place to praise the lord while the lord’s creations are starving and barely dressed just around the corner.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Baba G: *
err that's "bible thumping" and i hope more Muslims would learn from the way Christian missions do humanitarian deeds around the world..
[/QUOTE]

Bible thumping? There’s a new one…

In our part of the world fundamentalist Christians are referred to, as bible bashers, I’ve never really understood the logic behind this phrase; it seems to signify the opposite.

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Re: Re: is it ok

Sorry, I did not intend to be racial. May be the following is what I wanted to say:

Question#:
2269

Question Date:
12/10/1997

Topic :
Charity: to non-Muslim

Question:
Is it forbiden to give to a non-muslim charity? One of my muslim friends said we can only give such money to muslims. I tend to disgree we should help our community including christans, jews, etc. No matter who they are they all worship the same God, but have a differant path. Is it wrong to help non-muslims?

Answer:
2269 Dear Br. A. As-salaamu alaykum. No, it is not forbidden to give charity to a non-Muslim in need. However, you should make a distinction between charity in general (no restriction for recipient) and Zakat in particular (restriction). For zakat (which is the 2.5 percent of a specific amount of money) required of you to pay once a lunar year has elapsed and which constitutes one of the pillars of Islam, you have to dispense the money for specific categories of people defined in Surah al-Taubah (9) verse 60. Under one of these categories and for Zakat purpose only (not only for regular charity), you may give to non-Muslims who have their heart inclined to Islam and not to any other non-Muslim group. As to the rest of charity, you may give to anyone in need. Having said this, please note that there are priorities in giving charity. For example, family members in need qualify more than non-family members. Thank you for asking and God knows best.

Source:
IslamiCity

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ramyssysIX: *
Its not prohibited to give charity to Non-Muslims. However, we should give preference to Muslims and their related causes, e.g. mosques, relief efforts etc.

[/QUOTE]

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Dhulfiqar: *
You can give charity to non-Muslims as Sadqa. Zakaat however can only be spent on Muslims.

PS. Don’t give any money to the non-Muslim charities, they are usually run by bible basher Christian missionaries who go to third world countries and ghareeb logoun ki haalat ka faeda uthaatey huway they try and convert them.
[/QUOTE]

The money I donate is directed toward catholic charities.

Catholic Charities is Missouri's largest provider of social services for the poor.

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lajawab: perhaps make that center multi-cultural and multi-religious by also allowing ur fellow christian students to pray there on Sundays :k:

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Well said, brother Lajawab!

I pray Allah (swt) accepts your efforts and your community gets the mosque that it rightly deserves. You will get a lot of distracters on the way, pay them no heed. Let this mosque be focal point of your community, so that apart from performing the ritual acts of worship, this will be the centre from where Food, Shelter and Medicines for the needy can be organized for the betterment of your community and beyond.

May Allah (swt) grant you all strength to overcome all the obstacles and disappointments.

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Lajawab, logoN kai paas khana khanay ko nahiN, sar kay ooper chat nahiN, woh kiya namaaz khaak pardhein gay? In my opinion, you can congregate at various other places, university gym, local convention hall, a football field, a public park. Arrangements with officials can be made. Shower, bathe, do your wuzu at your own homes and then congregate for jumma and then you're done.

I think it's a pity that people are starving, living on the streets in the dead of winter, and people are building mosques. Even the Quran says that your zakaat should go to your Parents, family, orphans, travelling alien, in that order, nothing about mosques. To me that sounds like the Quran is saying that once you've taken care of your parents, your family, the orphans, and the travelling alien, then build a mosque if you wish.

Just my opinion.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Dhulfiqar: *

Bible thumping? There’s a new one…

In our part of the world fundamentalist Christians are referred to, as bible bashers, I’ve never really understood the logic behind this phrase; it seems to signify the opposite.
[/QUOTE]

That is quite funny. Maybe the reason it is called bible bashing is cause as a resolut of their actions, the locals of the area end up bible bashing.....

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//The lease has expired and we are using this apartment illegaly as it is not meant to be used as a place of congregation...//

Does the end justify the means!.