Who to begin with in distributing zakah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
When distributing zakah, a man might have, for example, one hundred thousand that he wants to distribute, and there are needy people before him, some of whom have debts of half a million, or one hundred thousand, or two hundred thousand, and some of whom have a modest income and many obstacles. So with whom does he begin?
One begins with the one who is in need. The one who is more urgently in need of his food, drink, clothing, and bedding is more pressing than the one who is paying off his debt; because the one paying off the debt may find things easier for him in the future, but the person in need of food, drink, clothing, and bedding is more important and more in need, so he is given priority.And for that reason you find the noble verse: [At-Tawbah: 60] And he begins with the most important, then the next most important.
One begins with the one who is in need. The one who is more urgently in need of his food, drink, clothing, and bedding is more pressing than the one who is paying off his debt; because the one paying off the debt may find things easier for him in the future, but the person in need of food, drink, clothing, and bedding is more important and more in need, so he is given priority.And for that reason you find the noble verse:
