The Criterion for the Poor and the Needy, and the Explanation of Sufficiency and the Purchase of a Slave for Manumission

The questioner:
The scholars have expressed themselves in explaining the poor and the needy, so what is the correct criterion for knowing that, especially in this age? And what is meant by sufficiency? Is it sufficiency for a day or for a year?

The Shaykh:
No. As for the first part of the question, where it says that the scholars' expressions differed in defining the poor, this is not correct. It is not that their expressions differ. The poor person is the one who finds nothing, or finds a little. As for the needy person, he is the one who finds half of his sufficiency or most of it. As for the second part of the question, which is what amount is paid to the poor and the needy, he is paid what suffices him and his children for a period of one year.

The questioner:
If a slave is purchased from zakah to be freed, does he have the bond of loyalty (wala')? And is it permissible to give his slave a reward from zakah so that he can free himself?

The Shaykh:
Yes, both matters are permissible. It is permissible to purchase a slave from zakah to free him, as Allah the Exalted said regarding the ransom of slaves. And it is permissible to give his mukatab (slave under a contract of manumission) what helps him to settle his debt, as Allah the Exalted said: Both matters are permissible. Yes.