Money transfer fees should not be deducted from Zakat

7-9-2012 | IslamWeb

Question:

Aslam-o-Alaikum I have to zakat to a persons though bank account, if i pay xxx amount of zakat and bank charging me xx amount of as service charge? So will this bank service charges considers or can i count them as also zakat?

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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.

The fees paid for transferring the Zakat and making it reach that person cannot be deducted from the Zakat money; rather, they are fees that you must pay from your own money. Hence, you are obliged to make all the Zakat money that you have to pay reach its legitimate recipients without deducting the expenses of transferring it to them.

An-Nawawi said: “When it is permissible or obligatory to transfer the money [i.e. the Zakat money], then the expenses of transferring it are due on the owner of the money.”

Allaah Knows best.