- Whom Can Zakah Be given to ?

Who is a poor person and is defined as a pauper

There are seven types of people who can accept Zakah;
1. Faqir - poor person
2. Misqueen - Beggar
3. Aamil (Designated Person)
4. Riqab - Slave
5. Gharim - Person in debt
6. Fee-Sabeelillah - Spent in the path of Allah
7. Abn-isabeel - Traveller

2 A Faqir is a person who has some property but not enough to make the qualifying threshold known as Nisaab or he has enough to fulfil the Nisaab but some of or all of the property is part of his basic necessities, such as a house to live in and clothes to wear and servants for his care and tools for his profession, then regardless of how expensive they are, they are not counted in Nisaab and if his savings do no total the Nisaab or he has savings but he is in debt and when his debt is calculated it takes his savings below the Nisaab threshold, then this person is regarded as a poor person [Radd-ul-Mohtar etc.].

3 A Misqueen is a person who has nothing and is desperate even for shelter or for clothing to cover his body and has to resort to begging.

4 It is allowed for a Misqueen to beg and it is not allowed for a Faqir to beg. This is because if a person has enough for food or clothing to cover themselves then it is Haram for a person to beg [Alamgiri].

5 An Aamil is a person who has been designated by the leader of Islam to collect money from people for Zakah. He should be given enough so that his and his helpers expense can be fulfilled whilst collecting the Zakah money. He should not be given so much that whatever he has collected, his expense is more than half that amount [Durr-e-Mukhtar etc.].

6 Riqab means to give money to a slave so that with this money he can free himself from his master and become a free man.

7 Gharim means a person who has so much debt, that by paying it off he would not have enough left to fulfil the Nisaab [Durr-e-Mukhtar].

8 Fee-Sabeelillah means to spend in the path of Allah. There are many ways this can be done. If a person wishes to go to Jihad (battle for Islam) and he does not have the necessary means for weapons and goods then he can be given Zakah, even if he has the power to earn the money.
If a person wishes to perform Hajj and he does not have the means to do this then he can be Zakah to perform Hajj, however, it is not allowed for him to ask or beg for the money. If a student who is studying religion can be given Zakah and this student can even ask or beg for the money when he has specifically reserved himself for the learning of Islamic knowledge, even if he has the power to earn the money. In the same way, Zakah can be spent in all pious activities where the condition is that the person taking the Zakah will become the owner of the money, if the intention is not to make the person the owner then Zakah will not be fulfilled [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

9 There are many people who send their Zakah money to poor Madressas, they should make sure that they tell the trustees of the Madressa that this money is Zakah money, so that the Trustees can keep the money separate and spend it on the poor children who are studying, otherwise if they are unaware then they may spend the money on other causes, whereby the Zakah will not be fulfilled [Bahar-e-Shariat].
Ibn-e-Sabeel means a person who is travelling and his money has finished then he can take Zakah, even if he has goods or money at home, however, he can only take so much that his needs can be fulfilled and not more as this would not be allowed.

10 It is necessary when giving Zakah that the person whom Zakah is being given to is made the unconditional owner and not just the keeper. Therefore, to spend Zakah money or goods on a Mosque or to buy a Kafan (shroud) for a deceased person or to pay off a debt of a deceased person or to free his slave or to make a pathway, road, bridge etc. or to have dug a well or stream for water or to buy books and then give them away is all not sufficient and Zakah would not be fulfilled by doing this until you make a Faqir the owner of the Zakah money, however, when the Faqir becomes the owner of the goods or money, he can then spend the money in these causes if he wishes [Johra, Tanveer, Alamgiri etc.].

11 You cannot give Zakah to your immediate parents or grandparents (maternal or paternal) i.e. whom we are children of and nor can you give Zakah to your children or grandchildren. In the same way you cannot give them Sadqah, Fitra, Kaffara or Nazr. As far as Voluntary Sadqah is concerned then this can be given and in fact it is better to give them this [Alamgiri, Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

12 Zakah can be given to the daughter-in-law or son-in law or to your stepmother or stepfather or you wife's children (from a previous marriage) or your husband's children. You can give Zakah to any of your relatives for whom you are responsible for their maintenance as long as you do not include the money into the maintenance account [Radd-ul-Mohtar]. A wife cannot give Zakah to her husband nor can a husband give Zakah to his wife. However, if a man divorces his wife and he can then give her Zakah after the iddat (probationary period) is over [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Radd-ul-Mohtar].

13 You can give Zakah to the wife of a rich person as long as she is not the owner of Nisaab and the same applies to a rich person's father if he is a Faqir [Alamgiri].

14 You cannot give Zakah to a rich man's non adult children, however, if a rich man's children are adults and they are a Faqir, then you can give them Zakah [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Alamgiri].

14 If a person after basic necessities is the owner of Nisaab, then he cannot be given Zakah. Meaning after the basic necessities he has enough goods or money that totals to two hundred Dirhams (Approx. £400). Even if Zakah is not necessary on this amount, i.e. if a person has six tolas (70 grammes) of gold then this does not complete the Nisaab to give Zakah as the Nisaab is 88 grammes to give Zakah, but this person cannot be given Zakah money. Also for example, if a person has twenty cattle and this totals two hundred Dirhams then this person cannot be given Zakah, even though Zakah does not become necessary on twenty cows.

15 A house, food to eat, clothing to wear, a servant, animal or vehicle for travelling, tools for working, books for a student which are being used for his study are all regarded as goods for basic necessities.

16 A healthy person can be given Zakah even if he has the strength to earn money, although he cannot beg for money [Alamgiri].

17 If a person has diamonds or pearls and they are not for business use then it is not necessary to give Zakah on them, although if they reach the Nisaab threshold then the owner cannot take Zakah [Durr-e-Mukhtar etc.].

18 You cannot give Zakah to people belonging to the Bani Hashim family. Bani Hashim family means children of Hazrat Ali, Hazrat Ja'far, Hazrat Aqueel, Hazrat Abbas, Hazrat Haris Ibne Matlab [Alamgiri, Durr-e- Mukhtar etc].

19 If the mother is Hashmi or a Sayyeda and the father is not a Hashmi then they are not regarded as Hashmi, because according to Shariat the family tree (Nasab) is from the male and therefore they can be given Zakah as long as they qualify for Zakah [Bahar-e-Shariat]

20 Voluntary Sadqa and Lillah can be given to Bani Hashim [Durr-e-Mukhtar, Bahar].

21 An immigrant infidel (Zimmi) cannot be given any Zakah or Sadqa Wajiba (such as Nazr, Kaffara, Sadqa, Fitr) and it is not allowed to give any type of Sadqa to an infidel visitor even if the visitor has gained permission to enter the Islamic country by the authorities (visa) and they cannot even be given any voluntary Sadqa such as a gift, money etc. Although India is a place where Islam is recognised (Daar-ul-Islam), the infidels in India are not immigrants (Zimmi) and they cannot be given even voluntary money as this is not allowed [Bahar-e-Shariat].

22 Whatever people that qualify for taking Zakah that has been mentioned, the condition has to be that they all must be Faqirs except for an Aamil as they do not need to be a Faqir to qualify for taking Zakah and the other exception is Ibn-e-Sabeel as even if they are rich they are regarded as a Faqir when they are on a journey and they run out of funds. Except for these two, no other person can be given Zakah unless they are a Faqir [Durr- e-Mukhtar, etc.].