My husband is involved in a few charitable organisations. He found that some of these organisations buy immoveable properties with the money collected from charity and then rent these out to other individuals. The rent so collected is then distributed as charity. Is it right to buy assets with the charity money? Or should not the money collected for charitable purposes be distributed immediately to deserving families? Kindly clarify.
Sister there is no restriction if money collected for charity is used to buy assets and then the rent earned is used for distribution to the needy. As a matter of fact this is highly encouraged because the income will be a source of relief for the less fortunate in the Muslim Ummah for an extended time frame. If the money collected is immediately spent in charity, though it might reach more people there is a big risk of the funds coming in drying out and then everything stops completely. It is important that Muslims accumulate assets and institutions for future generations. Not only will there be huge appreciation in the value of the assets, but charity will be continuous and it will strengthen the Islamic organizations no end.
