Is it permissible to transfer zakah from one country to another?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The questioner asks: Is it permissible to transfer zakah from one country to another?
The Shaykh : The answer is yes, it is permissible to transfer zakah from one country to another, but it is better to distribute it in one’s own country unless there is a benefit in transferring it. One must have relatives in another country who are eligible for zakah and wants to transfer it to them, or the other country is in greater need than his own, so he transfers it to them because they are more in need. In that case, there is nothing wrong with it. Otherwise, it is better to distribute it in his own country. However, if he transfers it to another country without a benefit, then if he delivers it to its recipients anywhere on earth, it is valid for him, because Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, made it obligatory for its recipients and did not stipulate that they must be in a specific country.
The Shaykh : The answer is yes, it is permissible to transfer zakah from one country to another, but it is better to distribute it in one’s own country unless there is a benefit in transferring it. One must have relatives in another country who are eligible for zakah and wants to transfer it to them, or the other country is in greater need than his own, so he transfers it to them because they are more in need. In that case, there is nothing wrong with it. Otherwise, it is better to distribute it in his own country. However, if he transfers it to another country without a benefit, then if he delivers it to its recipients anywhere on earth, it is valid for him, because Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, made it obligatory for its recipients and did not stipulate that they must be in a specific country.
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1402هـ - 3 — binothaimeen.net (13:16)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.