Is an orphan considered among the poor and needy to whom zakah is distributed?

Question : There is an orphan support project in Pakistan with an annual amount of two hundred and twenty thousand riyals, covering zakah, books, and so on. Is it permissible to pay this from the zakah of wealth, given that the recipients of zakah are eight categories, including the poor and the needy? Is an orphan considered among the poor and the needy? Please clarify this, and may Allah reward you with good.

Answer : An orphan who has no one to support him and no wealth from which to spend on himself is undoubtedly among the poor. Therefore, spending on him from zakah is permissible, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: As for the orphan who has wealth, or who has relatives or governments that provide for him, he does not deserve zakah, because being an orphan is not a reason for taking from zakah. It is true that Allah has commanded us to be kind to orphans and to do good to them, but they are not among the recipients of zakah unless they are poor. If they are poor, there is no harm in giving them from zakah, even if we give them enough to last them a full year. Yes, that is correct.