Ruling on Giving Zakah to Relatives
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Is it permissible to give zakah to relatives?
Zakah is given to relatives, and giving it to relatives is better than giving it to distant people, except for those whose financial maintenance is obligatory upon you; it is not permissible to give them from the zakah to cover their maintenance, because if you give it to them, you save yourself the maintenance that was obligatory for this person.
And for this reason we say: It is permissible to pay off the debt of a relative, even if his financial maintenance is obligatory upon you; you provide for him and pay off his debt from your zakah, because the debt of a relative is not obligatory for you to pay off, even if it is his father’s. So if a son wants to pay off a debt on his father, and his father is unable to pay it off, and the son pays it off from his zakah, there is no blame on him.
The questioner: If a sister is married and she is poor, and her husband is poor, is it permissible for her brother to give her from his zakah?The Shaykh: There is nothing wrong with giving her from his zakah.
Zakah is given to relatives, and giving it to relatives is better than giving it to distant people, except for those whose financial maintenance is obligatory upon you; it is not permissible to give them from the zakah to cover their maintenance, because if you give it to them, you save yourself the maintenance that was obligatory for this person.
And for this reason we say: It is permissible to pay off the debt of a relative, even if his financial maintenance is obligatory upon you; you provide for him and pay off his debt from your zakah, because the debt of a relative is not obligatory for you to pay off, even if it is his father’s. So if a son wants to pay off a debt on his father, and his father is unable to pay it off, and the son pays it off from his zakah, there is no blame on him.
The questioner: If a sister is married and she is poor, and her husband is poor, is it permissible for her brother to give her from his zakah?The Shaykh: There is nothing wrong with giving her from his zakah.