Paying Zakat to Someone With Medical Needs

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

Can I give zakat to a patient suffering from liver failure who is in dire need of financial support

Answer

I pray you are well.

Yes, if someone like this is in need and they don’t have savings, extra properties beyond what they live in, gold, etc. then it would be valid to give zakat to such a person.

Someone who owns land, properties, extra cars, or other things beyond their needs is not allowed to receive the zakat which equivalent to their value. Usually a person can give a poor person enough money to take them to the zakat threshold (nisab), as that it the line between being poor and rich in the Shari’a.

However, if a person has cash, gold, or an extra car, for example, one takes the value of such things and deducts it from the nisab amount. The remaining figure is the maximum that this person can receive.

If their excess items are equivalent to the nisab or more than it, then they cannot receive zakat, but they don’t have to pay zakat on the above things – with the exception of cash, gold, and silver. (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar)

May Allah take care of all our needs.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.