Chapter on Miscellaneous Issues Regarding Zakat
Man Lā Yaḥḍuruh al-Faqīh|Volume 2|Book 1|Chapter 6
وَ رُوِيَ عَنْ أَبِي بَصِيرٍ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اَللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ مَا عَلَى اَلْإِمَامِ مِنَ اَلزَّكَاةِ فَقَالَ «يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ أَ مَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ اَلدُّنْيَا لِلْإِمَامِ يَضَعُهَا حَيْثُ يَشَاءُ وَ يَدْفَعُهَا إِلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ جَائِزٌ مِنَ اَللَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ لَهُ ذَلِكَ إِنَّ اَلْإِمَامَ لاَ يَبِيتُ لَيْلَةً أَبَداً وَ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ فِي عُنُقِهِ حَقٌّ يَسْأَلُهُ عَنْهُ ».
It is narrated from Abu Basir, who said: I asked Abu Abdullah Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام "What obligation does the Imam have concerning Zakat?" Imam عليه السلام replied: "O Abu Muhammad, do you not know that the world belongs to the Imam? He places it wherever he wishes and gives it to whomever he wishes, and this is permissible for him by Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Almighty. The Imam never spends a single night while there remains a right of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Almighty, upon him without fulfilling it, for Allah سبحانه وتعالى will hold him accountable for it."
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Faqīh