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Fatwa CenterGiving Zakah to a new Muslim maid who is saving money
Question
Salam alaikum, I would like to know if my Fillapino housemaid who embraced islam in Ramadan 2006 can accept Zaka from me, She has left my home now & she is trying to save money to work in another country where she will be better paid, she has a little savings already towards this, so i would like to know can i give her my zaka, the amount of savings she has is 30 thousand pesos, plaese let me know via e-mail ASAP as my Zaka is due & i dont want to delay it too much. may Allah reward you all well for all the good work you do in helping us all. Thank you,
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. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
We have already issued Fatwa 88368 clarifying the eight kinds of people who are eligible for Zakat. Therefore, if the housemaid whom you mentioned in the question is included in the categories of people who are eligible, like if she is poor and can't find any means to fulfil her needs, or that she is needy but could fulfil some of her needs only and not all of them, or that she is indebted and the like, then it is permissible to give her Zakat money, otherwise no.
However, we are not able to know her condition as we are unable to give a ruling about the money which she has, and whether or not it is enough to fulfil her needs and those whom she is obliged to spend on. If this is the case, then she is not among the people who are eligible for Zakat. If the money she owns is not enough for her and those whom she is obliged to support, then in this case she is eligible for Zakat. Therefore, you know more about her, however, in most cases, the housemaids are poor and needy and do not have enough money to fulfil their needs.
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