Is it permissible to spend Zakat funds on the poor who invest them and distribute their profits, or trade with some of them on a Mudarabah basis, and is it permissible to spend them on training them for investment?

The recipients of Zakat have been clarified by Allah in His Book, and they are of two types: The first type's entitlement is expressed with the preposition "li" (لِـ) which denotes ownership, and these are the poor, the needy, those employed to collect [Zakat], and those whose hearts are to be reconciled. These individuals must be given ownership of the Zakat truly and actually. Once they own it, they have the freedom to dispose of it as they wish. The second type's entitlement is expressed with the preposition "fi" (فِي), and these are the remaining categories: "and for [the freeing of] captives, and for those in debt, and for the cause of Allah, and for the wayfarer." It is not sufficient to obtain a perfunctory approval from the poor for the disposal of Zakat; rather, it must be by their choice and without any conditions. It is not permissible to spend Zakat on training courses to qualify the poor unless they genuinely own it and then voluntarily permit it.