Are the recipients of zakah in a specific order?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question : The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, are the recipients of zakah in a specific order, meaning that they are arranged as they appear in the verse?
Answer : Yes, they are not in a specific order. In fact, you may give to the needy person and not to the poor person. However, it is well known that the one who is in greater need is more deserving of it. If kinship and great need coincide, and this relative is one whose financial maintenance is not obligatory upon you, then he is more deserving than a distant person. Likewise, the poor people of your town are more deserving than the poor people of other towns, and the one who is closer to your town is more deserving than the one who is farther away.
Answer : Yes, they are not in a specific order. In fact, you may give to the needy person and not to the poor person. However, it is well known that the one who is in greater need is more deserving of it. If kinship and great need coincide, and this relative is one whose financial maintenance is not obligatory upon you, then he is more deserving than a distant person. Likewise, the poor people of your town are more deserving than the poor people of other towns, and the one who is closer to your town is more deserving than the one who is farther away.
Source
اللقاءات الرمضانية لعام 1415هـ - 5 — binothaimeen.net (20:28)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.