Is it permissible for the Zakat agent to lend a needy person from Zakat funds as a debt, with the agent guaranteeing repayment should the debtor fail to pay?

It is not permissible for the Zakat payer or their agent to dispose of Zakat funds by lending them, because Zakat is the property of the poor and must be transferred to them immediately upon its due. Some contemporary scholars have permitted giving benevolent loans from Zakat funds, but they have made this the prerogative of official government-designated funds, not individuals.