Using Zakaat to pay for a child’s school fees

Q. An eight-year-old child is in school. The parents cannot afford the school fees for the child. Can we assist them by paying their child’s school fees with Zakaat money?

A. In normal cases, parents enroll their child at a school and parents are responsible for paying the school fees on behalf of their child. The payment of the school fees are not levied on the child. Rather, it is levied on the parents of the child.

Therefore, if the parents of the child are eligible recipients of Zakaat, the parents may be assisted with Zakaat to pay their child’s school fess. If the parents of the child are not eligible recipients of Zakaat, they cannot be assisted with Zakaat to pay their child’s school fess. They may be assisted with Lillah.

Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

themufti.com