Giving zakaah to a female relative if her son is going to take it and spend it on haraam things
Question Is it permissible to give zakaah to a poor female relative of ours, knowing that if we give it to her, she will give it to her son who will do bad and haraam deeds? Is it permissible to give it to her?. Praise be to Allah. If the relative about whom you are…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
If the relative about whom
you are asking is entitled to zakaah because she is poor and in need, or
because she is in debt, then there is no reason why you should not give her
zakaah, rather it is better to give it to her, because it is both zakaah and
upholding ties of kinship. See the answer to question no.
20278.
But you should advise her
not to enable her son to spend it on haraam things, rather she should buy
him whatever he needs of permissible things. She can hide the money from him
and spend it on herself and her dependents.
You should also advise the
son and call him to Allaah; do not despair of his being guided, for people’s
hearts are between two of the fingers of the Most Merciful, and He turns
them as He wills. How often has He accepted the repentance of a sinner and
how often has He guided one who was astray.
If it is not possible to
hide the money from the son and prevent him from spending it on haraam
things, then the mother can take the money and give it to one of you, and
delegate him to buy what she needs.
According to some scholars,
it is permissible to give her the zakaah from the outset in the form of
food, clothing and other things that she needs. This view may be followed in
cases such as this, if the son is going to take charge of the money and
spend it on haraam things.
See also the answer to
question no. 42542 and
79337.
And Allaah knows best.
