The Judgments Pertaining to the Honorable
Family Members of the Prophet
Translated by Riad Nachef
The Prohibition of Spending the Zakat on the Family Members of the Prophet
By sheikh Jamal Sakr Al-Husayni
Ibn ^Abd Al-Barr said:” The elites of Quraysh are Banu Hashim and they are the branch of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, and his close Tribe and his family members for whom the Zakat is prohibited.”
The proof for that is what Muslim and others narrated about the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, that he said: “إن هذه الصدقات إنما هي أوساخ الناس وإنها لا تحل لمحمد ولا لآل محمد“”, which means: “Those Zakat monies resemble the filth of the people and it is prohibited for Muhammad and the family members of Muhammad.” According to another narration by Muslim: “إن الصدقة لا تنبغي لآل محمد إنما هي أوساخ الناس“”, which means: “The Zakat ought not to be acceptable for the family members of Muhammad it is but similar to the filth of people.” Muslim also narrated that Al-Hasan Ibn ^Aliyy took into his mouth a date from the money of Zakat, so the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: “كَخ كَخ إرم بها أما علمت أنا لا نأكل الصدقة”, which means: “It is filthy! It is filthy! Throw it away; have you not known that we do not consume the Zakat!”
This constitutes a proof that spending the Zakat on the Prophet and his family members is prohibited. In what pertains to the Zakat the family members of the Prophet are:
1) The family members of Al-^Abbas, may Allah accept his deeds, who is the uncle of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, so he is the son of ^Abd Al-Muttalib the son of Hashim the son of ^Abd Manaf.
2) The family members of Imam ^Aliyy may Allah, accept his deeds, who is the son of Abu Talib the son of ^Abd Al-Muttalib the son of Hashim.
3) Ja^far, may Allah accept his deeds, who is the son of Abu Talib the son of ^Abd Al-Muttalib the son of Hashim.
4) ^Aqil the son of Abu Talib the son of ^Abd Al-Muttalib the son of Hashim.
Also attached to them here would be the sons of Al-Muttalib the sons of ^Abd Manaf.
This is the school of Imam Ash-Shafi^iyy and those who concurred with him which states that the family members of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, as far as Zakat is concerned are the sons of Hashim and the sons of Al-Muttalib. Some Maliki scholars said the same thing. Abu Hanifah and Malik said; “They are the sons of Hashim in particular”. Abu Hanifah said: ” The Zakat is not prohibited on the family members of Al-Muttalib, rather it is prohibited on the sons of Al-^Abbas, ^Aliyy, Ja^far, ^Aqil and Al-Harith the son of ^Abd Al-Muttalib. Al-Qadi said: “Some scholars said, ‘ They are the entire Tribe of Quraysh'”. Asbagh Al-Maliki said: “They are the sons of Qusayy”.
Ash-Shafi^iyy’s proof is that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: “إن بني هاشم وبني المطلب شىء واحد“, which means: “The sons of Hashim and the sons of Al-Muttalib are one and the same”. The Prophet distributed amongst them the share of Zakat pertaining to the Kin.
An-Nawawiyy said in his explanation of the book of Muslim 176/7: ” Ash-Shafi^iyy has three sayings regarding the voluntary Sadaqah of which the most correct is that it is prohibited for the Messenger of Allah , sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, and is permissible for his family members. The second saying it is prohibited for him and the third it is permissible for him and his family members.
As to the freed slaves of the sons of Hashim and the sons of Al-Muttalib there are two opinions for our companions regarding whether or not the Zakat is lawful for them. The most correct is that it is unlawful due to the Hadith of Abu Rafi^ that An-Nawawiyy later mentioned. The second opinion is that it is lawful. Abu Hanifah said it is prohibited while enquiring with the Kufiyy’s and some Malikiyy’s. Malik said that it is permissible. Ibn Battal Al-Malikiyy claimed that the difference in opinion pertains to the freed slaves of the sons of Hashim as to the freed slaves of the others it is permissible for them by cosensus; The issue is not as per his claim, rather what is more correct according to our companions that it is prohibited for both the freed slaves of the sons of Hashim and the sons of Al-Muttalib and there is no difference between them.” This is the end of An-Nawawiyy’s statement.
The Hadith of Abu Rafi^ is that Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said: “إن الصدقة لا تحل لنا وإن مولى القوم منهم“, which means: “The Zakat is not permissible for us and the freed slave of a people is attached to them.” The Hadith is narrated by At-Tirmidhiyy, An-Nasa‘iyy and others.
An-Nawawiyy said in his explanation of the book of Muslim 179/7: “The meaning of the saying of the Prophet ‘ …it is but the filth of the people’ refers to drawing the attention to the reason for prohibition on the sons of Hashim and the sons of Al-Muttalib being for the sake of their pride and purity from filth. The filth of people refer to that the Zakat purifies the monies and souls of the people just as Allah the Exalted said: {خذ من أموالهم صدقة تطهرهم وتزكيهم بها}, which means: {Take from their monies a Zakat that purifies and excels them.}
Hence it is a similitude of the water used to wash off the filth.