Donations collected for a specific purpose
| Fatwa #983 | Category: Miscellaneous | Country: United Kingdom | Date: 1st November 2023 |
| Fatwa #983 | Date: 1st November 2023 |
| Category: Miscellaneous | |
| Country: United Kingdom | |
Question
Asssalamu Alaykum Mufti Saheb.
I have a question I wanted to ask.
At the beginning of the year I made a pledge with a charity to raise money for Turkey and Syria (at the time when the earthquakes happened).
One way I raised money was *bucket Chanda, telling the cars that the money was for the Turkey/Syria victims, and I have no way of contacting them now.*
The pledges are not qasms, but rather an intention to raise that money, with the possibility of not doing so.
My question is: would I be able to donate the money raised elsewhere/ to another charity, or do I have to give it to the people I made the pledge with? Also, would it have to go to Turkey/Syria since that is what I told the people who donated?
(I contacted the charity in September to arrange a way of giving the money. They said they would get somebody to contact me, but nobody has contacted me since.)
Jazak Allah Khair
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, if donations are collected for a specific purpose, they must be spent in that specific avenue. If the avenue is to be altered, it requires permission from the donors.[1] Therefore, if the donations were collected specifically for Turkey/Syria, they must be spent there.
If you are unable to contact the donors, then you may give the donations on their behalf in a similar cause though the location might differ.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad IV Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia
رد المحتار – ط. بابي الحلبي (2/ 269) [1]
وهذا حيث لم يأمره بالدفع إلى معين إذ لو خالف ففيه قولان حكاهما في القنية
وذكر في البحر أن القواعد تشهد للقول بأنه لا يضمن لقولهم لو نذر التصدق على فلان له أن يتصدق على غيره اه
أقول وفيه نظر لأن تعيين الزمان والمكان والدرهم والفقير غير معتبر في النذر لأن الداخل تحته ما هو قربة وهو أصل التصدق دون التعيين فيبطل وتلزم القربة كما صرحوا به وهنا الوكيل إنما يستفيد التصرف من الموكل وقد أمره بالدفع إلى فلان فلا يملك الدفع إلى غيره كما لو أوصى لزيد بكذا ليس للوصي الدفع إلى غيره فتأمل
فتاوي محمودية ج15 ص474
فتاوي دار العلوم زكريا ج 4 ص 738