May One Be Deemed To Have Given Zakat By Not Receiving Rent From His Her Poor Tenant?

May one be deemed to have given zakat by not receiving rent from his/her poor tenant?

In order for zakat to be valid, the money or property to be given to the poor must be transferred to him, that is, the ownership must be transferred to him. This requirement is fulfilled by giving zakat to the poor actually (Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar, III, 171). For instance, preparing food and announcing that only the poor is allowed to eat from it is not considered as conveyance of the food. But if the food is prepared and delivered to the poor with the intention of zakat, then the conveyance is fulfilled and thus, the zakat is validly given. Accordingly, when a person lends money to another person without the intention of zakat, and then decides to consider it as zakat, conveyance is not fulfilled because the money is not present itself.

Therefore if some amount of money is given to a person initially as debt and donated with the intention of zakat afterwards, zakat does not become valid. Scholars of the four schools have agreed on this opinion.

Some scholars who interpreted the term of tamlik more widely evaluated it as conveyance to donate a receivable to the poor debtor, and considered it as permissible. (Qaradawi, Fiqh Zakat, II. 848-850; Zuhayli, al-Fiqh al-Islami, II, 895). One may choose to act according to this opinion as well.

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWA