Question Summary:
Will it be considered that the zakah is paid or do we have to pay it again?

Question Detail:

My sisters stay outside our contry. They gave my mother some amount of money to ba payable as Zakah to the poors and to some of our relatives. My mother cant exactly remember but she lost the money or it might have been stolen by our domestic help. What should we do now? Will it be considered that the zakah is paid or do we have to pay it again? Who should pay the money? 

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Respected Brother in Islam
Your concerns are two aspects:
1) The Zakah will not be considered as paid as it did not reach the ownership of its proper recipients. It will have to be paid again.
2) If your mother was not negligent in looking after the Zakah in anyway, she will not be responsible. Your sisters will need to repay the Zakah. However if your mother was negligent, she will need to repay the Zakat.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Muhammad bin Hashim Amod
Durban, South Africa
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net 

(Fatawa Mahmudiyyah Mazhari page 88/17 + page 112/17)
(Fatawa Mahmudiyyah Mazhari page 47/3)