Chapter on Relatives for Whom Zakat Is Lawful and for Whom It Is Unlawful

Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Faddal, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hashim, from Abu Khadijah, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: Imam عليه السلام said: “Do not give from zakat to anyone whom you maintain.” And he (narrator) asked: “If a man has five hundred dirhams and his dependents are many.” Imam عليه السلام said: “There is no zakat upon him; he spends it on his dependents, increasing it in their maintenance, in their clothing, and in food which they had not been eating. And if he does not have dependents and is alone, then let him distribute it among people in whom there is no harm, chaste from asking, who do not ask anyone for anything.” And Imam عليه السلام said: “You must not give all of the zakat to your relatives, but give them some and distribute some among the rest of the Muslims.” And Imam عليه السلام said: “Zakat is lawful for the owner of a house and a servant, and for one who has five hundred dirhams, provided that he has dependents. And he makes the zakat of the five hundred an increase in the maintenance of his dependents, expanding upon them.”