Giving a service as zakat

A question about giving a service as zakat, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that services such as housing, education and medical treatment may not be given as zakat, because zakat must be paid as wealth that the poor person comes to own. ¹

The questioner asked about giving a service as zakat, such as performing surgery for a patient or housing a tenant and counting the fee as zakat. ¹

The Department answered that zakat must be paid from the asset on which it is due, except zakat on trade goods, which is paid by value, and that it must transfer ownership, citing the verse on the recipients of zakat in Surat al-Tawba 9:60 and saying its preposition denotes ownership. ¹ It said that services such as housing, education and medical treatment may not be given as zakat on wealth, because zakat on wealth must be paid as wealth that the poor person comes to own, and these services are intangible and cannot be owned. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4329, dated 8 March 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.