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Is it permissible to pay Zakat on wealth to a working brother whose salary is insufficient to cover his house rent, or to a father who is building a large house to accommodate his family?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is permissible to give zakat to a brother if he is among those eligible for zakat, such as being poor and unable to meet his basic needs and the needs of his dependents. Giving it to him is better, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Charity given to the poor is a charity, and to a relative, it is two: charity and strengthening ties of kinship." As for the father, it is not permissible to give him zakat due to poverty or destitution, because his maintenance is obligatory upon the zakat payer, unless the zakat payer is unable to provide for his maintenance, in which case it is permissible according to many scholars.

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

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