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

Muhammad ibn Yaqub, from several of our companions, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Isa, from Ali ibn al-Hakam, from Abdullah ibn Utbah, from Ishaq ibn Ammar, from Abu al-Hasan Musa عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: I (narrator) said to Imam عليه السلام: “I have relatives and I spend on some of them and prefer some of them over others. Then the time of zakat comes to me, may I give them from it?” Imam عليه السلام said: “Are they entitled to it?” I (narrator) replied: “Yes.” Imam عليه السلام said: “They are better than others (non-relatives); give them.” He (narrator) said: “I asked: ‘Then who is it among my relatives whose maintenance is binding upon me, so that I may not count zakat upon him?’” Imam عليه السلام said: “Your father and your mother.” I (narrator) asked: “My father and my mother?” Imam عليه السلام said: “The parents and the child.”