The Ruling on Giving Zakah Outside the Kingdom

The questioner : The questioner asks: Is it permissible to give zakah outside the Kingdom if the owner of the wealth has relatives by marriage? Also, is it permissible to give it to non-relatives outside the Kingdom if he has no relatives there either?

The Shaykh : If there are people in his country who are eligible for zakah, he should not send it out of his country. Because the nearest relatives are more deserving of kindness and have a stronger right to it.
If there is no one in his country, the scholars said that it should be distributed in the countries closest to him. It can also be said that it should be distributed in the countries most in need of it, as long as his own country is well-off and he wants to send it out; he should look for the people most in need of it and give them from it.
They reasoned this by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said , and because the hearts of the poor in your country are attached to you.
This requires that you comfort these broken hearts and give them their zakah. However, if the country is self-sufficient and there are people in the lands of the Muslims who are in greater need, there is no harm in transferring it. This applies to zakah other than zakat al-fitr. As for zakat al-fitr, it is given in the local area in all cases. For this reason, if a person, for example, is from here in Unaizah and the festival catches him in Makkah, he gives it in Makkah, not in Unaizah. And conversely, if he is from Makkah and the festival catches him in Madinah, he gives it in Madinah; it follows the person. Yes.