The ruling on withholding zakah on the pretext of spending it on one's children

Question:
May Allah reward you. This is Abu 'Awf. He says: Honorable Shaykh, my father does not pay the zakah of his wealth, although he does not deny the two pillars of zakah. He justifies this by saying that he spends the zakah of his wealth on his family and his sons, and that he is also building a future for them. What is the ruling on this situation? And what is your advice for his sons who live off his wealth?

Answer:
The one who says he spends the zakah on his children is ignorant. It is not permissible to spend zakah on one's children, nor on one's fathers and grandfathers. A person's zakah is not permissible for his ancestors or his descendants; because if they are in need, he is obligated to spend on them from his wealth, so he does not make the zakah a shield for his wealth. So you should convey this matter to him, because he may be ignorant. Convey to him that this is not permissible, and that he must pay the zakah, and that it does not suffice for him to give it to his children. Rather, it must be spent in what Allah has commanded it to be spent in, to the end of the verse. So it is a debt remaining in his liability, and he must pay it for all the years that have passed in which he did not pay zakah. Yes.