There are many poor people at food stores; is it permissible for me to give them zakat al-fitr?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: On the night of the festival of 'Id al-Fitr, many people who appear to be poor gather at food stores. If I buy zakat al-fitr, is my obligation discharged by paying it to these people?
The Shaykh:
If you know that they are not in need, it is not valid. But if you do not know, you act based on their appearance, and their sin is upon them.
The questioner:
Then he says, may Allah preserve you: And if you know that they will sell it immediately after receiving it from you?
The Shaykh:
It is not your concern regarding them. The important thing is that they take it for a need, and they do with it what they wish: they eat it, they sell it, they give it away, whatever it is. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: On the night of the festival of 'Id al-Fitr, many people who appear to be poor gather at food stores. If I buy zakat al-fitr, is my obligation discharged by paying it to these people?
The Shaykh:
If you know that they are not in need, it is not valid. But if you do not know, you act based on their appearance, and their sin is upon them.
The questioner:
Then he says, may Allah preserve you: And if you know that they will sell it immediately after receiving it from you?
The Shaykh:
It is not your concern regarding them. The important thing is that they take it for a need, and they do with it what they wish: they eat it, they sell it, they give it away, whatever it is. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1020 -3022] يكثر الفقراء عند محلات بيع المواد الغذائية، فهل يجوز أن أعطيهم زكاة الفطر؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.