as long as people fulfill their fraiD imposed by shariah on them, they are free to choose to spend their power and wealth on whatever supererogatory mode of worship they like; performing umrah after umrah is encouraged in hadith sharif; العمرۃ إلی العمرۃ کفارۃ لما بینہما : بخاری: 1773
Of late, liberal Muslims are keen to undermine Islamic pillars/practices to serve broader goals. A case in point is this article, which opines/preaches that rich Muslims should forsake unnecessary rituals (multiple Umrahs etc.) and instead spend their wealth on causes like education, community upliftment etc. Some interesting number crunching in the article. While the broader point against lavish and superfluous expenditure (like extravagant marriages, etc.) is well-taken, to say that Umrah etc. should be completely avoided is an over-reach. The ideas that this article seems to espouse has struck a chord with several liberal Muslims and now they have started putting their zakat to some "innovative" uses. It has been an open secret for a while that Zakat Foundation (India) has been pooling zakat from well-intentioned individuals to sponsor UPSC (Indian Civil Services) coaching for Muslim aspirants. Recently Sudarshan TV got a wind of it, and gave it a communal twist. How zakat, a poor-due, can be used for coaching meritorious students (even if not financially weak) is beyond me? All the fiqh principles regarding recipient's eligibility, nisab, tamlik, etc. are cast aside in pursuit of "noble cause". While I understand that zakat can be used for purpose of education (and other fi sabeelillah causes), can it be used as above? What stops the donating individuals from giving away non-zakat money for these purposes?
