All perfect praise be to Allah; and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
It is impermissible for an employer to pay the salaries of his employees from the Zakah due on his property, because it isn`t permissible that the benefit of Zakah goes to the giver. Therefore, he isn`t permitted to combine between Zakah and employees` salaries because the latter are an obligation on him. Al-Ojaili,an eminent Shafiti scholar said, "It is unlawful for the Zakah giver to pay the wages of the croppers from the Zakah money."{Hashyat Al-Jamal Ala Sharh Al-Manhajj(2/248}.
Muslim scholars have determined that it is unlawful for a person to give the Zakah on his property to his dependants, because he is obliged to provide for them. Al-Imam Al-Ma`wardi said, "If their-parents` and children`s-expenditure is due on him, then the Zakah or expiation that he paid to them doesn`t avail him. In other words, Zakah remains a debt on him for two reasons:……….The second one is that he benefitted from what he had paid them because he dropped their rights on him. In other words, such an action is paying Zakah for himself; it remains a debt on him."{Al-Hawi Al-Kabeer,10/518}.
As a result, the employer is obliged to pay the salaries of his employees and he isn`t permitted to deduct them when calculating the Zakah. Rather, he should calculate the Zakah on his net profit as well as all the money and merchandise in his possession, and pay it to those who are entitled to receive it. However, if he paid their salaries, then he is permitted to pay from the Zakah on his property to those entitled to receive it from amongst them. Allah, The Exalted, said{what means}"Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Truth); for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of God; and for the wayfarer: (thus is it) ordained by God, and God is full of knowledge and wisdom."{At-Tawbah/60}. And Allah knows best.
