Adding the sums specified as Kaffarah for an oath to those specified for offering Iftar for the fasting persons
(Part No. 8; Page No. 295)
Fatwa no.
18677
All Praise is due to Allah. May Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon the Last Prophet! To proceed,The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has reviewed what was sent to the Grand Mufty from Al-Bir Society in
Jeddah,
which was referred from the Secretariat General of the Council of Senior Scholars to the committee under number (5765), dated 27/11/1416 A.H. The inquirer asks for a Fatwa (legal opinion issued by a qualified Muslim scholar) on the following issue:1. The society is organizing a charitable project for the Iftar (breaking the Fast) of Fasting people. In light of the size of the project during the last years and after estimating their need of the current year, they expect a specific number of meals that the donations of benevolent people will cover. They thus make a contract with some restaurants to provide the required meals of Iftar and deliver them to the places where the needy gather to receive them. The value required for the payment of these meals is only completed by the end of Ramadan and it may even be less than the required sum. Thus, the society is compelled to take a portion of the Kaffarah (expiation) for oaths or of the money allocated for feeding the needy to cover the shortage. After these additional sums, the sum may be more than required and then we save it for the next year. What is the ruling on this act? Is it permissible to deliver meals of Iftar before getting the sums for payment from the donators? The Iftar may even take place before the donator intends to give the Sadaqah (voluntary charity) for Iftar. Is it permissible to change the way of spending the sums (Part No. 8; Page No. 296) from a charitable category to another? Is it permissible to save some money to the next year when other sums come late, i.e. by the end of Ramadan?2. The society is also organizing a project for collecting Zakat-ul-Fitr (obligatory charity paid before the Festival of Breaking the Fast) and delivering it to the legally eligible recipients. Those in charge of the society also estimate the size of the project equally as they do with the project of Iftar. What is the ruling on this act?
Reviewing the question, the committee answers as follows:First: It is obligatory to
spend the Sadaqat and Kaffarat according to the way specified by the donators. If the giver of charity specifies Ramadan as a time for delivering their charity, it should not be delayed beyond it. Similarly, if the payer of Kaffarah gives it to the society to deliver it to the legal recipients, it is impermissible to spend it under another category. It is obligatory to buy the things specified as Kaffarah and deliver them to the due recipients.Second: It is impermissible to pay the Sadaqah or the Kaffarah before the intention and command of the payer of Sadaqah or the Kaffarah take place, because the intention is legally necessary.Upon receiving the money of the donators, it is obligatory to pay their donations according to their directions and the same goes to the way of delivering the Kaffarat.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.
The money surplus to...
