Using zakaat money to pay an employee for his employment service

The Botswana Muslim Association zakaat committee is currently in the process of restructuring its operations for enhanced transparency, security, and accountability.

At present, one of our full-time imaams is solely responsible for all aspects of the zakaat operations. To improve our processes, we would like to employ a full-time finance officer to handle fund management, accounting, and financial reporting, as well as an additional aalim to assist with needs assessments, verification of zakaat applications, and conducting home visits.

We seek guidance on whether it would be permissible to allocate a portion of the zakaat funds collected to cover the remuneration for these roles, given that they would directly contribute to the effective and responsible administration of zakaat distribution.