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Is it permissible to give Zakat al-Mal (obligatory charity on wealth) to needy families who own a small amount of gold for adornment, knowing that they are not extremely poor but are in dire need of money?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Zakat is only to be given to the eight categories mentioned in the Quran. The Hanbalis are of the view that whoever possesses the equivalent of 17.66 grams of gold is not eligible for Zakat, citing the hadith: "Whoever begs from people while possessing what suffices him." However, some jurists hold the opinion that it is permissible to give Zakat to someone whose gold possession is insufficient to cover their basic needs, and this is the more preponderant view. It is also permissible to give Zakat to the poor husband of a woman, even if she possesses a lot of gold, because her maintenance is the responsibility of her husband.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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