The ruling on distributing zakah to relatives.

The Shaykh : The question remains: Is zakah to be distributed to relatives? Is it to be distributed to the husband? Is it to be distributed to the wife, if they are eligible? The answer: According to the stronger opinion, yes. It is distributed; according to the stronger opinion, it is distributed. But it is not to be distributed for something that the payer of zakah is obligated to provide. Stay with me. It is not to be distributed for something that the payer of zakah is obligated to provide. Consider this. A man has a son who is separated from him in another house. The son is poor, and his wife and children are poor. His father has zakah. Is it permissible for the father to give his zakah to this son?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : No. Do not say no, and do not say yes. It depends. If the father’s wealth is sufficient to spend on his son who has left his home, then it is not permissible to give him the zakah. Rather, he must spend on him from his own wealth. He must spend on him from his own wealth, even if the son resists, to the point that the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) said: In this case, it is permissible for the son to demand his father before the judge, so that the judge forces him to provide maintenance, because this is a right obligatory for the sake of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. It is not the son who made it obligatory, like a debt, for example. In the case of a debt, the son does not demand it from his father. But for maintenance, he does demand it from his father, because it is for the preservation of life and for the right of Allah. — Please pay attention now. — This is a man who has a poor son who is separated from his home, living alone in a house. Does he give him from the zakah? Hmm? It depends. If the father’s wealth is sufficient for him to spend on his son, it is forbidden to give him from the zakah. And what is obligatory? What? To spend on him. But if the father’s wealth is little, then in this case it is permissible to give his son from the zakah. Good. A man has a son in his house, in his house, and an incident occurred involving the son that damaged another person’s car, and this car was assessed at twenty thousand. Is it permissible for the father to pay this fine for his son who is in his house? It is permissible. It is permissible to pay, because the father is not obligated to pay fines for his son. Maintenance is obligatory for him. But paying fines for the son is not obligatory. Therefore, it is permissible for the father in this case to pay his son’s debt from his zakah. The cause? Because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: . And this son is among those in debt. And the father is not obligated to pay his son’s debt, and likewise the reverse. If a man has a father who has a debt. If a man has a father who has a debt, and the father is unable to pay it off, is it permissible for his wealthy son, who has much money, is it permissible for him to pay his father’s debt from his zakah? Yes? Yes, it is permissible. But is it permissible to spend on his father from his zakah? No, because spending on the father is obligatory for the son. But paying the debt is not obligatory. It is not obligatory for the son. And thus we say: Pay your father’s debt from your zakah, and there is no blame on you. The summary is that if a person’s payment of zakah removes an obligation from him, it does not suffice for him. And if it does not remove an obligation, it suffices for him. Have you seen? If a person has a guest who stays with him, and he has zakah in the form of dates. He says, “I will take them out for this guest, instead of going out to look for a poor person; the guest is with me, so I will take them out for him.” Is it permissible? It is not permissible. Why? Because it removes from himself an obligation that is upon him, which is hospitality. So know this criterion.