Spending Zakah money for educational and cultural purposes
21-2-2011 | IslamWeb
Question:
Alsalm alykom,I know that zaka should go precisely to eight catagories as stated in Quran, the most catagory is poor people, it is not easy in our country to identify poor people who hide their poverty and do not ask charities,they really deserve zaka. Other catagory is poor people who can work or can learn some skills to work but they do not have the will and desire to do so and are looking for easy money from alzaka , I think they do not deserve it . I am concerned about poor people who are willing to work and willing to learn skills to qulify them to work. My question is can I use my zakat fund in establishing number of sewing centers to train poor girls and women so theymay get decent work and can I use my zakat fund for similar vocational training centers for men so they can be productive in our community and not rely on charities. could I use my zakat in sponsering the education of poor talent students, and last Q. could I use zakat almal in re printing rare islamic books. Please reply and you may include new ideas for me and your readers,Jazakom allah khyran
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
It is not permissible for you, dear brother, to pay Zakah on what you mentioned, i.e. on establishing sewing centers for women and vocational centers for men, printing books, building schools or on the education of the poor; rather, you should pay Zakah to the people who are eligible for it, because it is a condition when giving Zakah to the poor and destitute, to make them its owners in a way that they may dispose of it as they wish as we clarified in Fatwa 81892.
The fact that you do not find poor people who hide their poverty and do not beg the people is not a sound reason for paying Zakah to other than its eligible recipients, because the Zakah must be paid to the poor whether they beg or do not beg. The most important thing is that the definition of being poor applies to them. Of course, the poor who are able to earn their living are not entitled to receive the Zakah. Also, Zakah is not only restricted to be given to the poor as it is known. For more benefit on the recipients of Zakah, please refer to Fatwa 81303.
As regards paying Zakah on the education of the poor, then if you mean spending it on their education without giving it to them, then this is not acceptable because Zakah must be handed over into the possession of its recipients as Ibn ‘Aabideen 
said in his book “Al-Haashiyah”: “Zakah must be paid on the basis of Tamleek (i.e. in such a way that its beneficiaries become exclusively owners of it and can use it as they wish).”
But if you mean that you give it to them so that they would spend it on their education, then this is permissible as they will be its owners due to them being poor and they will be free to spend it as they wish. For more benefit on spending Zakah on seeking knowledge, please refer to Fatwa 88952.
To sum up, you should spend the Zakah on the people who are eligible for it and if you do not find poor people to spend it on in your country, it becomes permissible for you to transfer it to another country.
Allaah Knows best.