What is the limit at which a person is permitted to take zakah, for example, an imam whose salary is somewhat sufficient for him?

Mashhur: Our Shaykh, the same question, may Allah reward you. I know the circumstances of the brother.The questioner : And the circumstances of what is happening, so please shed light on the need and its amount. I mean, on the assumption that whether the ones in charge of these associations or these funds did so for the sake of Allah or otherwise, the taker, this student of knowledge, the taker, for example, if he is an imam and has a salary that is sufficient for him in terms of the house and the like, is it permissible for him to take? I mean, the need of the taker, the extent of the need that is prescribed if it exists...

The Shaykh: Excuse me, may Allah reward you. Do you mean by your question, is it permissible for him to take it for himself?
Mashhur: Someone else gave it to him.

The Shaykh: Ah, so do not hold me to this. Is it permissible for the official to give it to him?
Mashhur: Is it permissible for the official to give it to him? Yes, yes. There is a connection between the question and the other. If it is permissible for him to take it, it is permissible for him to give it.

The Shaykh: No, may Allah reward you. There is a difference, because the problem of the question is whether he is allowed to take it, and I have answered in detail previously. So I thought you meant, if it is given by the official, is it permissible for him to take it?
Mashhur: I am focusing on the light of the brother.The questioner : The brother.The questioner : Asks about a student of knowledge.

The Shaykh: I know that he is a student of knowledge.
Mashhur: He is asking about a student of knowledge, and a specific person came to his mind. And this brother is far from us and is not one of us, meaning, and this brother is an imam and has what is sufficient for him, and he says, "I am a student of knowledge, I want to take a little of my salary from the endowments."

The Shaykh: My brother, he takes from what, O Abu Ubaydah?
Mashhur: From a specific committee tasked with giving it to him.

The Shaykh: This is it. If it is given to him, does he take it or not?
Mashhur: Yes, he does.

The Shaykh: Okay, I think I also answered this.
Mashhur: I mean the need. Focus on the extent of the need that is present; if it is present, it is permissible for him to take it, otherwise not.

The Shaykh: I am still saying we do not need to define the need, because I assume either he is poor or he is rich, correct?
Mashhur: Yes.

The Shaykh: I assume he is either poor or rich. So in the case of him being poor, is it permissible for him to take from zakah, let alone what is not zakah, is that not so?
Mashhur: That is so.

The Shaykh: Okay, if...
Mashhur: The limit of poverty. Are you, our Shaykh, in agreement with the view that does not prevent him from taking from this expansion?

The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
Mashhur: That every poor person who...

The Shaykh: Every. My belief is that whoever is rich is forbidden from taking zakah, even if he did not ask for it. Whoever is poor is not allowed to ask for zakah, but he is allowed to take it. Therefore, in my opinion, I have hit the mark or missed it, and Allah knows that, either he is poor or he is rich. If this poor person is given zakah, it is lawful for him, and I do not need to define the need he claims. Or he is rich. If he is given money on the basis that he is poor while he is rich, it is forbidden for him to take this money if it is given in exchange for his work, i.e., within the limit of the saying of Allah the Exalted: And as I said earlier, the head of the charitable association is like the caliph. So if he gives this man, this imam, this employee, and he is rich, then this is as the scholars say, that the workers and the debtors and the like, it is not a condition that they be poor, because these were mentioned after the poor and the needy were mentioned. So, may Allah reward you, I see that the matter is broader than that we are forced to estimate the need he claims, because either he is poor, and we cannot judge individuals among people that he is poor or rich, correct? I mean, any person among us when he gives the zakah of his wealth to a person he thinks is poor, but he may be rich, he may be richer than you and me, for example, but his account is with Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. So if he does not deny being poor, we give to him, even if in reality he is rich. And if it is the exact opposite, we know that he is rich and that zakah is obligatory upon him, so we do not give him zakah, but we may give him wages in exchange for his work in this charitable association. This is what I have, and Allah knows best.