Ruling on transferring zakah from one region to another

This message was received by the program from the listener Sharabi Abdul Rahman from Rabat, the Kingdom of Morocco. He begins his message by saying: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. I greet you with the fragrant greeting of Islam and a complete peace. After that, it is a great pleasure and joy for me to send you this first-of-its-kind message, after a long period of listening to the Call of Islam radio station, and especially the religious programs in which you answer listeners' religious questions. In truth, I am impressed with the program "Light on the Path," and I thank all the honorable scholars who graciously answer listeners' religious questions in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah. I would like to participate in this religious program with this question: In one of the Friday sermons in one of the mosques in the city of Rabat, the preacher said that zakah must not be distributed outside the city in which a person resides. He added that trade zakah can be given by a person to a single individual, such as a relative who works in trade. Every year on Ashura, this person closes his store and takes an inventory of his goods to determine the amount of zakah that can be paid according to Islamic law. After that, he gives the zakah to the poor and needy who come to his store, as well as to those he knows in the city who are in need. Then he collects the remainder and sends it to the village where he was born, and to the villages neighboring his village, where he distributes it—that is, the zakah—to the needy among his relatives and others. Is this permissible, or not? Please inform us; may Allah reward you.
Answer: Distributing zakah in the town, if there are poor and needy people there, is better. This applies to nearby towns that are considered equivalent to it and do not require travel to reach. These adjacent and close towns that are not at the distance of shortening prayer from his town are all considered the same town. Therefore, if he distributes the zakah to the poor in these areas, it would be better. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Mu'adh when he sent him to Yemen: ... He said: The apparent meaning of this is that the nearest poor people are more deserving than others. If poor and needy people are found in the town or in its vicinity, and the zakah is distributed to them, this is better and more deserving. However, if there is a need to transfer it to poor people in distant lands, or to needy mujahideen fighting in the cause of Allah, or to deserving relatives, or to students of knowledge who have devoted themselves to seeking Islamic knowledge and need assistance, there is no harm in this according to the most correct opinion of the scholars. Thus, transferring it for a legitimate Islamic interest is permissible. Zakah used to be transferred from many lands to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Medina, and he would distribute it to the poor. So, transferring it from one land to another for a legitimate Islamic interest is permissible. However, the better course is to distribute it among the people of the town if they are needy and poor. If he has a surplus because his zakah is large and he can give to both groups, he combines two benefits: he gives the existing poor their needs and transfers the remainder to other destinations.
In any case, distributing it in nearby needy lands is better. If he transfers some of it, or transfers it for a legitimate Islamic interest, such as to needy relatives, or to mujahideen in the cause of Allah, or to needy students of Islamic knowledge, or to someone in another land who is in greater need, the correct view is that there is no harm in that. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.