Zakat & the Principle of Tamlik

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

One of the conditions of zakat is this principle of tamlik, the transfer of ownership, pertaining to zakat.  The majority of fuqaha’ agree that, even in the fixed eight aswnaf, the condition for a valid payment of zakat is that someone deserving should be given possession of the zakat as its owner.  The following is ijma’, a consensus of our scholars of Sunni Islam. 

If money was spent for the benefit of these very people without having given them possession of it, that zakat is considered to still be unpaid.  It is for this reason the four a’immah al-madzahib and the majority of the fuqaha’ agree that it is impermissible to spend zakat funds either on the construction of masajid, madaris, hospitals, orphanages, or any infrastructure related to them.  While there is no doubt that the benefit of such projects does reach the zakat recipients, the fact that the zakat has not passed on into their possession as owners makes zakat invalid. 

On the other hand, we have organisations that collect zakat under various aswnaf that may not necessarily be disbursed directly to the recipients due to whatever reason.  For example, Darul Arqam Singapore, collects zakat under the aswnaf of fisabilillah and then uses that money to organise their events under the purview of da’wah such as public talks and other events.  And they collect money under the aswnaf of mu’allafat qulubihim 'alayhim, and use that money to pay for the convert gift pack. 

The question then would be, is the zakat considered paid because they do not fulfill the condition of tamlik as defined in fiqh?  The attendees of the events, for example, are not considered recipients since they do not qualify under the aswnaf of fisabilillah and do not receive that zakat directly.  The converts receive, I believe $60 as zakat upon conversion, but the convert gift pack also does not count since it does not fulfill that same condition of tamlik.  Does this mean that organisations such as Darul Arqam Singapore and others, with the same practice, have been mistaken or negligent in the fiqh of zakat disbursement?