Giving Zakah to indebted maternal uncle
6-12-2006 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalam-o-Alaikam, I am ordinary muslim and not so updated on several islamic rulings but ALHAMDOLILLAH i try to learn and improve upon myself.hope u will help me in that endeavour. QUESTION.I ve my one elderly maternal uncle who is in financial crisis and he is in so much critical condition that he borrows money for his modest expenses and he told me that if he dies u will discharge my loans,i agreed with him and said INSHALLAH i will do. He has a wife who has some 2 million worth property in her name and that property was named or gifted to her as MAHAR on wedding of my uncle with her,I want to inquire that if his wife has so much wealth at her disposal (but my uncle dosnt insist upon her to sell it as he thinks it against his honour)can i help him with my ZAKAT money every month and saddaqahs,is it right to give him zakah if her wife owns so much property.Kindly do tell me as i am not that rich and if i dont help him with my zakah then i can help him with little amount as saddaqahs. May ALLAH help u find the right answer for my situation. wasalam Numan
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
It is permissible for you to pay Zakat for your uncle who is poor and indebted whether your uncle pays his debt with it or spends it on himself, and you will be rewarded for doing so, Allaah willing. The Prophet 
said: "An act of charity on a poor person is only (counted as) charity, while an act of charity on a relative is (counted as) an act of charity and maintaining ties with kinship." [Ahmad, An-Nasaa'ee, At-Tirmithi, Ibn Maajah] Therefore, there are two rewards in giving charity to your maternal uncle, a reward for giving charity and a reward for keeping ties with kinship.
If the maternal uncle is among the eight kinds of people who are eligible for Zakat, then it is permissible to give Zakat to him.
For more benefit on the permissibility of giving charity to an indebted brother or sister, please refer to Fataawa 84916 and 81297.