Who is the most deserving of zakah: the one in need of food, the debtor, or someone else?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah.
His EminenceThe Shaykh : When distributing zakah, a man might have, for example, one hundred thousand to distribute, and he has needy people before him. Some of them have debts of half a million, one hundred thousand, or two hundred thousand, while others have simple incomes and large families. So where does a person begin?
The Shaykh : One should begin with the one who is in need. The one who is most urgently in need of his food, drink, clothing, and bedding is more urgent than the one who is paying off his debt, because the one paying off the debt may find things made easy 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.
The questioner : May Allah forgive you. We have heard people saying...
The Shaykh : And so you find in the noble verse:[At-Tawbah 9:60] and one begins with the most important, then the next most important.
His EminenceThe Shaykh : When distributing zakah, a man might have, for example, one hundred thousand to distribute, and he has needy people before him. Some of them have debts of half a million, one hundred thousand, or two hundred thousand, while others have simple incomes and large families. So where does a person begin?
The Shaykh : One should begin with the one who is in need. The one who is most urgently in need of his food, drink, clothing, and bedding is more urgent than the one who is paying off his debt, because the one paying off the debt may find things made easy 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.
The questioner : May Allah forgive you. We have heard people saying...
The Shaykh : And so you find in the noble verse: