Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling of paying Zakat as salaries to teachers of the Qur’an? ما حكم دفع الزكاة كرواتب لمعلمي القرآن؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say:   The eight categories of the recipients of Zakat were mentioned by Allah in the verse “Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [Zakat] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah . And Allah is Knowing and Wise” [at-Tawbah 9: 60]. Are students of Islamic knowledge and people engaged in similar activities  in different areas like memorizing the Qur’an, the Sunnah, teaching the Qur’an, the Sunnah, or the rest of the Islamic sciences and ancillary sciences like Arabic included in this verse? Some scholars are of the opinion that these issues are included in Allah’s statement “and for the cause of Allah,” because they are part of striving for the cause of Allah (jihad). Thus striving in the path of Allah covers everything that is a means for the preservation of Islam, whether that is through fighting with the transgressors, or protecting Islam, safeguarding it, refuting doubts and preserving the Shari’ah. Therefore, it is permissible to give Zakat to the teachers of the Islamic circles of learning and scholarly projects of different types. This opinion is very important in contemporary times because people are active in donating for various non-knowledge related causes in relieving the distressed like digging wells, endowments for the poor, orphans and so on. However, few people give Zakat for scholarly activities.