Short answer
Yes. Paying zakat through a website or app is valid: the charity acts as your agent, and your zakat is paid when it reaches eligible people. Make the intention of zakat when you pay, choose the zakat option and a charity with a separate zakat fund, and make sure fees are not taken out of your zakat.
Appointing an agent (wakil) to deliver zakat is valid, and paying a charity online is such an appointment. The intention at the time of payment is enough. Only the amount that actually reaches eligible recipients counts as zakat, so any fees taken from it must be made up.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Islamic law has always allowed you to send zakat through someone else. The Prophet ﷺ described a trustworthy treasurer who hands over what he is told to give, willingly, as one of the two givers of charity. A website, an app or a bank transfer to a charity is the modern form of the same agency. The four schools agree it is valid.
Before you pay, check:
- The zakat option: pick zakat, not a general donation, so your money goes to the zakat fund.
- A separate fund: the charity should keep zakat apart and give it only to eligible people as their own (see paying zakat through a charity).
- Fees: if a card or platform fee is taken from your payment, that part is not zakat. Cover the fee on top, or pay a little more.
- Admin costs: ask whether salaries and overheads come out of zakat.
- A receipt: keep it with your zakat records.
Your zakat is discharged when the charity hands it to eligible people. If it is lost before then, you still owe it.
Many sites offer monthly or daily giving in Ramadan. Monthly zakat is fine as an advance on what you will owe; settle the exact figure on your zakat date (see paying zakat early or monthly). Crowdfunding for a named person can be zakat only if that person is eligible and you trust the appeal.
Charity calculators do not always follow Hanafi rules on worn jewellery or the silver nisab. Work out your figure with our zakat calculator first.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:60
۞ إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱلْعَٰمِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَٱلْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلْغَٰرِمِينَ وَفِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌۭ ﴿٦٠﴾
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.
Collectors and agents may pass zakat on to its recipients.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1438
Sahih... الخازن المسلم الأمين الذي ينفذ ما أمر به ...
"The trustworthy Muslim treasurer who carries out what he is told is one of the two givers of charity."
Giving through an agent is valid and the agent is rewarded.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, on intention and appointing an agent. Intention when handing zakat to an agent is enough, and the agent may pass it on.
- Bada'i al-Sana'i, Kitab al-Zakat, on the conditions of payment. Zakat is discharged when it reaches the recipient's ownership.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.