Can Sādāt accept voluntary or obligatory ṣadaqah?

Question

السَّـــــــلاَمُ عَلَيــْــكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكـَـاتُه

Can sadaat accept nafli sadaqah or sadaqah waajibah?

— Mohammed Raza, Birmingham

Answer

Wa `Alaykum al-Salām wa Raḥmah Allāh wa Barakātuhū

It is not permissible for the sayyids, the progeny of Allāh’s Messenger `alayhi al-salām, to accept funds of Ṣadaqah Wājibah (obligatory forms of charity). However, it is permissible for them to accept Ṣadaqah Nāfilah (voluntary forms of charity).

This is evident in the writings of the Ḥanafī authorities, namely Sayyidunā Ṣadr al-Sharī`ah Muftī ‘Amjad `Alī ‘A`ẓamī. Ṣadr al-Sharī`ah writes in Bahār e Sharī`at:

بنی ہاشم کو زکاة نہیں دے سکتے۔ نہ غیر انھیں دے سکے، نہ ایک ہاشمی دوسرے ہاشمی کو۔

Zakāh may not be given to the Banū Hāshim – neither can a non-hāshimī give it, nor may one hāshimī to another hāshimī.

[Bahār-e-Sharī`at, Vol. 5, Who the Funds of Zakāt Shall be Paid to]

He further adds:

جن لوگوں کو زکاة دینا ناجائز ہے انھیں اور بھی کوئی صدقۂ واجبہ نذر و کفارہ و فطرہ دینا جائز نہیں سوا دفینہ و معدن کے

The people to whom giving zakāh is impermissible, giving them any other form of Ṣadaqah Wājibah, nadhr, kaffārah, fiṭrah, is not permissible, except for dafīnah and ma`din (two cases wherein one fifth of the total is necessary to offer as ṣadaqah).

[Bahār-e-Sharī`at, Vol. 5, Who the Funds of Zakāt Shall be Paid to]

Concerning the voluntary forms of charity, Ṣadr al-Sharī`ah writes:

صدقۂ نفل اور اوقاف کی آمدنی بنی ہاشم کو دے سکتے ہیں

Ṣadaqah Nāfilah and the proceeds of waqf (endowments) may be given to the Banū Hāshim.

[Bahār-e-Sharī`at, Vol. 5, Who the Funds of Zakāt Shall be Paid to]

Allāh knows best.

May he be pardoned

Faqīr Sayyid `Abdul Ṣamad al-Qādirī

Verified by Muftī Zāhid Ḥussain al-Qādirī