Editing Zakat (section)

===Distribution===
According to the Quran's Surah [[At-Tawba|Al-Tawba]], there are eight categories of people (''asnaf'') who qualify to benefit from zakat funds.<ref name=mariff>{{cite book|author=Ariff, Mohamed|title=The Islamic voluntary sector in Southeast Asia: Islam and the economic development of Southeast Asia|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|year=1991|isbn=978-981-3016-07-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NP4ZL0TJ9s4C&pg=PA38|page=38}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Alms-tax is only for the poor and the needy, for those employed to administer it, for those whose hearts are attracted ˹to the faith˺, for ˹freeing˺ slaves, for those in debt, for Allah's cause, and for ˹needy˺ travellers. ˹This is˺ an obligation from Allah. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.|{{qref|9|60|c=y}}}}

Islamic scholars have traditionally interpreted this verse as identifying the following eight categories of Muslim causes to be the proper recipients of zakat:<ref name=mams/><ref name=fvbb>{{cite book|author=Benda-Beckmann, Franz von|title=Social security between past and future: Ambonese networks of care and support|publisher=LIT Verlag, Münster|year=2007|isbn=978-3-8258-0718-4|page=167}}</ref>

# Those living without means of livelihood (''Al-Fuqarā'''),<ref name=mams>{{cite book|author=M.A. Mohamed Salih |editor= Alexander De Waal|title=Islamism and its enemies in the Horn of Africa|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-253-34403-8|pages=148–149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYLSKQa9tHEC&pg=PA148}}</ref> the poor<ref name=fvbb/>
# Those who cannot meet their basic needs (''Al-Masākīn''),<ref name=mams/> the needy<ref name=fvbb/>
# To zakat collectors (''Al-Āmilīyn 'Alihā'')<ref name=mams/><ref name=fvbb/>
# To persuade those sympathetic to or expected to [[convert to Islam]] (''Al-Mu'allafatu Qulūbuhum''),<ref name=mams/> recent converts to Islam,<ref name=mariff/><ref name=fvbb/><ref name="Weiss, Anita M. 1986 80">{{cite book|author=Weiss, Anita M.|title=Islamic reassertion in Pakistan: the application of Islamic laws in a modern state|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-8156-2375-5|page=80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROJZ5yt6O94C&pg=PA80}}</ref> and potential allies in the cause of Islam<ref name=fvbb/><ref name=twj/>
# To free from [[slavery]] or servitude (''Fir-Riqāb''),<ref name=mams/> slaves of Muslims who have or intend to free from their master {{clarify|date=July 2017}} by means of a ''kitabah'' contract<ref name=fvbb/><ref name=twj/>
# Those who have incurred overwhelming debts while attempting to satisfy their basic needs (''Al-Ghārimīn''),<ref name=mams/> debtors who in pursuit of a worthy goal incurred a debt<ref name=fvbb/>
# Those fighting for a religious cause or a cause of God (''[[Fi sabilillah|Fī Sabīlillāh]]''),<ref name=mams/> or for [[Jihad]] in the way of Allah by means of pen, word, or sword,<ref>{{cite book|last=Jonsson |first=David |title=Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcAcdx1NA34C&pg=PA245|date=2006 |publisher=Xulon Press |isbn=978-1-59781-980-0 |page=245}}</ref> or for Islamic warriors who fight against the unbelievers but are not salaried soldiers.<ref name=fvbb/><ref name=twj>Juynboll, T.W. ''Handleiding tot de Kennis van de Mohaamedaansche Wet volgens de Leer der Sjafiitische School'', 3rd ed., Brill Academic, pp. 85–88</ref><ref name=RelianceoftheTraveller>{{cite web|url=http://islamicbulletin.org/free_downloads/resources/reliance2_complete2.pdf |title=Reliance of the Traveller |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317053833/http://islamicbulletin.org/free_downloads/resources/reliance2_complete2.pdf |archive-date=17 March 2013 }}</ref>{{rp|h8.17}}
# Wayfarers, stranded travellers (''Ibnu Al-Sabīl''),<ref name=mams/> travellers who are traveling with a worthy goal but cannot reach their destination without financial assistance<ref name=fvbb/><ref name=twj/>

Zakat should not be given to one's own parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, spouses or the [[descendants of Muhammad]].<ref name="Visser-2009-p29" />

Neither the Quran nor the Hadiths specify the relative division of zakat into the above eight categories.<ref name=masahikotimur>Masahiko Aoki, Timur Kuran and Gérard Roland (2012), Political consequences of the Middle East's Islamic economic legacy, in Institutions and Comparative Economic Development, Palgrave Macmillan, {{ISBN|978-1137034038}}, Chapter 5, pp. 124–148</ref> According to the [[Reliance of the Traveller]], the [[Shafi'i]] school requires zakat is to be distributed equally among the eight categories of recipients, while the [[Hanafi]] school permits zakat to be distributed to all the categories, some of them, or just one of them.<ref name = RelianceoftheTraveller />{{rp|h8.7}} Classical [[schools of Islamic law]], including [[Shafi'i]], are unanimous that collectors of zakat are to be paid first, with the balance to be distributed equally amongst the remaining seven categories of recipients, even in cases where one group's need is more demanding.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Muslim scholars disagree whether zakat recipients can include non-Muslims. Islamic scholarship, historically, has taught that only Muslims can be recipients of zakat.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Benthal, Jonathan |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/16762/ISIM_1_The_Qur-an-s_Call_to_Alms_Zakat_the_Muslim_Tradition_of_Alms-giving.pdf?sequence=1 |title=The Qur'an's Call to Alms Zakat, the Muslim Tradition of Alms-giving|journal= ISIM Newsletter|volume= 98|issue=1|page= 13}}</ref> In recent times, some state that zakat may be paid to non-Muslims after the needs of Muslims have been met, finding nothing in the Quran or sunna to indicate that zakat should be paid to Muslims only.<ref name="Visser-2009-p29">{{cite book|author1=Visse|author2=Hans|author3=Visser, Herschel|title=Islamic finance: principles and practice|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84542-525-8|page=29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIXe3rY_OkgC&pg=PA29}}</ref>

Additionally, the zakat funds may be spent on the administration of a centralized zakat collection system.<ref name=AhmedGianci/> Representatives of the [[Salafi movement]] include propagation of Islam and any struggle in righteous cause among permissible ways of spending, while others argue that zakat funds should be spent on social welfare and economic development projects, or science and technology education.<ref name=" Visser-2009-p29"/> Some hold spending them for defense to be permissible if a Muslim country is under attack.<ref name=" Visser-2009-p29"/> Also, it is forbidden to disburse zakat funds into investments instead of being given to one of the above eight categories of recipients.<ref>{{cite web |title=حكم استثمار أموال الزكاة والصدقات – إسلام ويب – مركز الفتوى |url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/126393/ |website=www.islamweb.net |language=ar}}</ref>