Is it permissible to pay Zakat to a sister to help her pay off her debt, knowing that the beggar (the sister) will buy food with it to eat?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
If the indebted woman is able to repay and is procrastinating, then it is not permissible to pay on her behalf to settle her debt, because she is not among the categories of Zakat recipients mentioned in the verse: "Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise."
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/62516
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 62516
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy