Distributing Zakah to Specific Poor People
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Question: I work as a manager for the shops of one of the merchants, and his custom regarding the payment of zakah is that it is in the month of Ramadan, but he is often absent from the town, so he leaves the zakah with me along with a list of the names of those to whom he wants to pay the zakah, and he tells me: If any of these people whose names are registered come to you, pay him what you have allocated for him, and if he does not come, do not give it to anyone else. What happens is that some of those people do not show up, which causes much of the money allocated for zakah to remain stored. What is the ruling on this practice, and is it permissible for a person to specify the individuals to whom he will pay the zakah, or should he leave it to those who are entitled to it without specifying names?
Answer: You are a trustee, and it is obligatory for you to carry out what the owner of the zakah told you. So the zakah remains with you, and if the person entitled to it, who is named in the list you have, comes to you, you pay him his right. As for whoever does not come, you hold his right and return it to the owner of the wealth. The owner of the wealth, upon whom the zakah is obligatory, is the one who disposes of what remains. If he wishes, he waits for the person entitled to it, and if he wishes, he distributes it to others among those who are entitled to it. However, it is not befitting to withhold the zakah for a long period; rather, one should hasten to pay it out. One should not wait for another time with it unless there is a dire necessity that calls for this, such as there being a needy person waiting for it, or a time of pressing need, or a time of famine, or destitution. In that case, it is permissible to delay it in anticipation of these expected situations.
In any case, you are a trustee. It is not required of you to carry out anything other than what was told to you, and you must not dispose of this zakah without authorization from its owner.
Question: But the fact that he specifies certain names may lead to someone coming who is more deserving than them, yet he does not give him anything because he allocated it to so-and-so. Is there not a prohibition in this?
Answer: This is up to him. If the specified names are from those who are entitled to zakah, there is no blame on him in that. However, if the specified names are of people who are not entitled to zakah, it is not permissible for him to pay it to those who are not entitled.
And if the people are entitled, but there are others who are more deserving than them, it is better to pay it to those who are in greater need. However, giving it to those specified is sufficient.
Answer: You are a trustee, and it is obligatory for you to carry out what the owner of the zakah told you. So the zakah remains with you, and if the person entitled to it, who is named in the list you have, comes to you, you pay him his right. As for whoever does not come, you hold his right and return it to the owner of the wealth. The owner of the wealth, upon whom the zakah is obligatory, is the one who disposes of what remains. If he wishes, he waits for the person entitled to it, and if he wishes, he distributes it to others among those who are entitled to it. However, it is not befitting to withhold the zakah for a long period; rather, one should hasten to pay it out. One should not wait for another time with it unless there is a dire necessity that calls for this, such as there being a needy person waiting for it, or a time of pressing need, or a time of famine, or destitution. In that case, it is permissible to delay it in anticipation of these expected situations.
In any case, you are a trustee. It is not required of you to carry out anything other than what was told to you, and you must not dispose of this zakah without authorization from its owner.
Question: But the fact that he specifies certain names may lead to someone coming who is more deserving than them, yet he does not give him anything because he allocated it to so-and-so. Is there not a prohibition in this?
Answer: This is up to him. If the specified names are from those who are entitled to zakah, there is no blame on him in that. However, if the specified names are of people who are not entitled to zakah, it is not permissible for him to pay it to those who are not entitled.
And if the people are entitled, but there are others who are more deserving than them, it is better to pay it to those who are in greater need. However, giving it to those specified is sufficient.