No zakaah is due on wealth that is endowed for the public interest
Question

                A man endowed his wealth as a waqf for the needy and poor. Is any zakaah due on this wealth?.
Praise be to Allah.
    Wealth that is endowed as a waqf for the public interest such 
    as the poor, mosques, mujaahideen or orphans is not subject to zakaah, 
    because it does not have a specific owner. 

    Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’ 
    (5/313): If the livestock is endowed as a waqf for the public interest such 
    as for the poor, mosques, mujaahideen or orphans and so on, there is no 
    zakaah on it and there is no difference of scholarly opinion concerning 
    that, because it does not have a specific owner. End quote. 

    Ibn al-Muflih said in al-Furoo’ (2/337): There is no 
    zakaah on a waqf that is not endowed to a specific person, or to mosques and 
    schools. 

    Al-Bahooti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in 
    Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ (2/171): There is no zakaah on flocks and other 
    things that are not endowed to a specific person, such as for the needy or 
    for a mosque and so on, such as a school, because they are not owned by 
    anyone. End quote. 

    The Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked: Is 
    zakaah due on wealth that is endowed to the mosques? 

    They replied: No zakaah is due on wealth that is endowed as a 
    waqf for mosques and the like, and there is unanimous agreement on that 
    (among the scholars), because it does not belong to any specific individual. 
    End quote. 

    Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Ifta’ 
    (9/412). 

    And Allaah knows best.