Mustaḥabb Alms: Priority of Giving Alms to Beggars vs. Established Charitable Institutions

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Mustaḥabb Alms: Priority of Giving Alms to Beggars vs. Established Charitable Institutions

English:

Question #1805:

Is it allowable to give alms to the beggars found in streets or those who knock on doors asking for money? Or is it better to pay it to orphans and the poor or to give it to the Imam Khomeini Aid Committee?

Answer #1805:

It is preferable to give mustaḥabb alms to the humble and religious needy person. Also, it is no problem if you give it to Imam Khomeini Aid Committee even by throwing it in the alms boxes. But obligatory alms should be handed over to the deserving poor individually by the person himself or by his attorney. However, in case one knows that those who are in charge of the Imam Khomeini Aid Committee collect money from boxes and give to the deserving poor persons, there would be no problem in putting obligatory alms in these boxes.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Mustaḥabb Alms