Location for paying Zakah

6-5-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

As I do not work in my home country, where should I give my Zakah?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

As a rule, according to all scholars without any difference, one is required to distribute Zakah in one's place of residence based upon the Hadith of Mu'az Ibn Jabal (Radiya Allahu Anhu) when he was sent to Yemen the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) told him: "…. If they (the people of Yemen) accept, then inform them that Allah, The Great and Almighty, has imposed on them a charity to be taken from their rich people, and then, distributed among their poor ones. …."  [Reported by Imams Bukhari and Muslim].

In addition, there is agreement among scholars that if the people of some country are satisfied and are not in need of Zakah, or so few of them are entitled to receive Zakah, or there is no one who qualifies for of all categories Zakah, or due to their having great wealth, then it is permitted to transfer the Zakah to other places.

Moreover, scholars differ concerning the transfer of Zakah and believe it is disliked unless there is a need to do so, such as giving it to poor and needy relatives, or sending it where it is more needed, or giving for the common interest of Muslims, or transferring it to people who are more religious, or to students and needy scholars, and so on.

Anyway, if one transfers the Zakah ignoring the above-mentioned cases, it will be sufficient but disliked.

Allah knows best.