Ruling on Giving Zakah to a Poor Man Who Wants to Marry a Second Wife Out of Need - Ibn

The questioner : May Allah reward you. A man says: I am married and have children, and I have a pressing need for a second wife, but I cannot provide the mahr,

The Shaykh : and I cannot.

The questioner : provide the mahr. Is it permissible for him?

The Shaykh : Provide the mahr. Why didn't he say "and I cannot provide the mahr"?

The questioner : Is it permissible for him to take from the zakah, knowing that he is from the People of the House?

The Shaykh : Yes. It is permissible for a man who has a wife and desires another, and has nothing to pay for the mahr and the expenses of the marriage, to take from the zakah to meet his need for the second wife. He takes from the zakah, marries a second, and desires a third. Do we give him from the zakah? He desires a third and has nothing, so he is given. He takes the third and desires a fourth, so he is given. He is given from the zakah for the fourth. Fine, he desires a fifth. That is it, you are no longer a human being, you are absent. But he said, "O people, buy me a slave woman. Buy me a slave woman for the four." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not set a limit. Do we buy him a slave woman or not? We buy him a slave woman. We buy him a slave woman, meaning one who is owned, because there is no limit to the number of owned women. If a man were to take a hundred concubines, it would be permissible. We buy him a slave woman.
Yes, he is in need. We ask Allah not to test us or you. Some people, no benefit reaches them. Well, in any case, if a poor person needs to marry and he does not have the means to do so, it is permissible to give him from the zakah. But there is a point in the last part of the question: he said, knowing that he is from the People of the House. Who are the People of the House? Whose house, people? The house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the family of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Zakah is not lawful for them, because zakah is the expiation of the people, as Allah the Exalted said: What is it? So zakah is a purifier; it is the expiation of the people. The family of the Prophet has a relative honor that no one else has. But note that if the family of the Prophet opposed the Prophet and disbelieved in him, they became among the lowest of people. Have you not seen what was the state of Abu Lahab, the uncle of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?
Listen to what Allah said about him: But the believers from the People of the House have two honors. The first honor is the honor of faith, and this is equal to others or even greater than theirs. The second honor is the honor of lineage, and no one equals them in this. This man is poor and in need of marriage, whether it is the second wife or the first, and he is from the People of the House. So what does he do?
He takes from the zakah. I answer him: No. He takes from voluntary charity? No. The correct view is that voluntary charity is permissible for the People of the House. Voluntary charity is permissible for them. Fine, if they do not find anyone to give them voluntary charity, do they take from the zakah?
The scholars differed on this. Some said that they take from the zakah out of dire necessity, and it is limited to the amount of that necessity. Others said that the People of the House take the zakah of some of them only. That is, a rich man from the People of the House has a lot of wealth and has zakah, and there are poor people from the People of the House. They said it is permissible