Ruling on spending zakah on competition prizes

Question:
We have heard that the prizes given on television, radio, and elsewhere, and in competitions, are zakah from the wealth of merchants, and that they set it aside for this purpose. What is the ruling on that?

Answer:
I have not heard of this! I do not know, but in any case, if the prizes are for a Qur'an competition or something similar, they should not come from zakah; because it may be given to someone who is not poor, whereas zakah is only for the poor.
But these prizes should come from the principal capital, from wealth other than zakah, given generously by the brothers, or by the wealthy from their non-zakah wealth, or from the public treasury. As for from zakah, no; because those who memorize the Qur'an and others like them are not all poor. Among them are the poor and among them are the rich, so it is not permissible for these competitions to be funded from zakah.