The Legal Guardian and Possessing Public Properties: Khoms

In Continuation of the series in resources of the Islamic government, the author examinesKhoms, Alms (or Zakat), and public religious endowments in the view of Jurists. Half of the six-fold shares of Khoms goes to Imam, i.e. the legal guardian, and the rest belongs to the orphans and the poor ones of BaniHashem; however, the legal guardian divides and distributes the latter. Alms, or Zakat, is defined to certain uses and the one who pays that can give it to the poor directly; however, if the legal guardian asks for the alms, he should be given. Public religious endowments are properties which should be in the hand of legal guardian to be kept and to be distributed accordingly.