Ruling on giving zakah to siblings for whom financial maintenance is obligatory
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Q: Is it valid for me to give my wealth zakah or zakat al-fitr to my minor brothers and sisters, whom my mother is raising after the death of our father (may Allah have mercy on him)? And is it valid to give this zakah to my non-minor brothers, though I feel they are in need of it, perhaps more than other people? Should I give them this zakah?
A: Giving zakah to relatives who are among its eligible recipients is better than giving it to those who are not your relatives; because charity to a relative is both charity and maintaining family ties. However, if these relatives are among those for whom you are obligated to provide financial maintenance, and you give them from the zakah an amount that protects your wealth from the obligation of spending on them, then this is not permissible. If it turns out that these brothers and sisters you mentioned are poor, and your wealth is not sufficient to cover their maintenance, then there is no blame on you for giving them from your zakah. Likewise, if these brothers and sisters have debts to people, and you pay off their debts from your zakah, then there is no blame on you in this either; because a relative is not obligated to pay off the debts of his relative, so paying them off from his zakah is a valid action, even if it were your son or your father who had a debt to someone and could not repay it. It is permissible for you to pay it off from your zakah. That is, it is permissible to pay off your father's debt from your zakah, and it is permissible to pay off your child's debt from your zakah, on the condition that the cause of this debt is not the acquisition of financial maintenance that is obligatory upon you. If the cause is the acquisition of financial maintenance that is obligatory upon you, then it is not lawful for you to pay off the debt from your zakah; so that this is not taken as a ruse to prevent spending on those for whom you are obligated to provide maintenance, by borrowing and then paying off their debts from his zakah. And Allah knows best.
A: Giving zakah to relatives who are among its eligible recipients is better than giving it to those who are not your relatives; because charity to a relative is both charity and maintaining family ties. However, if these relatives are among those for whom you are obligated to provide financial maintenance, and you give them from the zakah an amount that protects your wealth from the obligation of spending on them, then this is not permissible. If it turns out that these brothers and sisters you mentioned are poor, and your wealth is not sufficient to cover their maintenance, then there is no blame on you for giving them from your zakah. Likewise, if these brothers and sisters have debts to people, and you pay off their debts from your zakah, then there is no blame on you in this either; because a relative is not obligated to pay off the debts of his relative, so paying them off from his zakah is a valid action, even if it were your son or your father who had a debt to someone and could not repay it. It is permissible for you to pay it off from your zakah. That is, it is permissible to pay off your father's debt from your zakah, and it is permissible to pay off your child's debt from your zakah, on the condition that the cause of this debt is not the acquisition of financial maintenance that is obligatory upon you. If the cause is the acquisition of financial maintenance that is obligatory upon you, then it is not lawful for you to pay off the debt from your zakah; so that this is not taken as a ruse to prevent spending on those for whom you are obligated to provide maintenance, by borrowing and then paying off their debts from his zakah. And Allah knows best.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.