The ruling on an agent taking for himself from the zakah funds he is entrusted to distribute

Question:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. A listener who identified herself with the letters Alif, Ya, and 'Ayn sent a somewhat lengthy message. She says: I have five children, and my husband is a simple employee with a low salary that does not suffice for my children. Sometimes I cannot find food to feed them. I have no suitable job to help my husband, especially since I adhere to the prescribed Islamic dress, praise be to Allah. No one knows that we need money, because by the grace of Allah, He has granted us modesty. We have some friends who sometimes give money to a specific number of people. We mentioned ourselves to them. After a while, one of these poor families became wealthy by Allah’s grace and no longer deserved this money, especially since they do not adhere to the religion. In that situation, I was in great need of this money, so I took the money allocated for that family and spent it on my children in a way that pleases Allah the Mighty and Majestic. I tried to fear Allah regarding this money, and I feared that I might be sinful in doing so, but I found that the same conditions these wealthy people set applied to us. Praise be to Allah, He has now made our situation easy, and we no longer deserve this zakah. Do I have to repay the money I took from that zakah now that Allah has made our situation easy, even though I am striving to give charity to those in need because I feel for their condition? But do I have to repay the money in the same amount I took from the zakah? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
There is no doubt that you made a mistake in this action. It was obligatory for you to inform the one who disburses the zakah of the reality before you acted. You should have told him that the people for whom he sent the zakah with you no longer deserve the zakah due to their wealth and lack of need for it. You should have told him that you, your husband, and your children are in need of the zakah, so that he would permit it or intend it for you and disburse it to you, making the matter clear before him. However, since you acted in this manner and did not inform him, it is obligatory for you to pay this amount, to compensate this amount to the poor, and to inform the donor of what happened. Then he will dispose of it and give it to those who deserve it, because it is zakah that did not reach those for whom it was intended. Therefore, he must be informed of this, and the amount he paid must be brought back so that he can give it to its rightful recipients.