The ruling on the agent paying out zakah to a poor relative
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: If I give zakah to a poor relative of mine, is it obligatory for me to inform him that this money is from the zakah?
The Shaykh:
My brother, if you are entrusted with paying the zakah, do not pay it to your relative, because you are a trustee, and a trustee does not pay it to his relatives; he pays it to others, unless you seek permission from its owner. If you seek permission from its owner and he grants it, there is no harm in that. What does he say?
The questioner:
He says, may Allah preserve you: I will pay the zakah to a poor relative of mine. Is it obligatory for me to inform him that this money is zakah?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible for you to pay it to your relative at all, unless its owner grants you permission. You pay it to someone other than your relative, because you are suspected in this matter, and this is favoritism, which is not permissible. If he grants you permission, there is no harm. And if you know that he is too modest to accept the zakah, inform him that it is zakah. But if you do not know that he is too modest to accept the zakah, give it to him and do not inform him. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: If I give zakah to a poor relative of mine, is it obligatory for me to inform him that this money is from the zakah?
The Shaykh:
My brother, if you are entrusted with paying the zakah, do not pay it to your relative, because you are a trustee, and a trustee does not pay it to his relatives; he pays it to others, unless you seek permission from its owner. If you seek permission from its owner and he grants it, there is no harm in that. What does he say?
The questioner:
He says, may Allah preserve you: I will pay the zakah to a poor relative of mine. Is it obligatory for me to inform him that this money is zakah?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible for you to pay it to your relative at all, unless its owner grants you permission. You pay it to someone other than your relative, because you are suspected in this matter, and this is favoritism, which is not permissible. If he grants you permission, there is no harm. And if you know that he is too modest to accept the zakah, inform him that it is zakah. But if you do not know that he is too modest to accept the zakah, give it to him and do not inform him. Yes.
Source
المنتقى من أخبار سيد المرسلين 25-01-1437هـ — alfawzan.live (38:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.