Zakah - The Obligation of Purity

WHO CAN AND CANNOT ACCEPT ZAK¬H
As mentioned before the people who can receive Zak\h must be
Muslims. It is not only acceptable but encouraged that a person spend
his/her Zak\h money on family members. However, due to the welfare
of some family members being a responsibility on a person these
relatives specifically cannot receive Zak\h.
Zak\h cannot be given to:
! Parents, grandparents. i.e. biological ancestors.
! Children, grandchildren. i.e. biological descendants.
! Husband or wife. i.e. Spouse of current marriage.
Provided they do not possess the Ni]\b, Zak\h can be given to:
! Brothers, sisters, nephews & nieces. i.e. siblings and their offspring.
! Uncles, aunts (both paternal and maternal) and their offspring.
! Stepparents and grandparents. i.e. non-biological ancestors.
! Stepchildren and grandchildren. i.e. non-biological descendants.
! In-laws.
In addition to the above Zak\h cannot be given children of the Ban[
H\shim, i.e. Sayyids. These are descendants of the Messenger r. Not
accepting charity despite poverty is a specific rule applied to them,
however if there are any in one’s area who are poor, one should
present them with gifts to fulfil their needs, so that they do not suffer.
Zak\h contributions cannot be given to institutions which do not give
the rightful recipients (Ma]\rif) possession of Zak\h, but instead use
Zak\h funds for construction, investment or salaries. Similarly Zak\h
will not be fulfilled by purchasing books or land for an institution.
One condition for the eligibility of receiving Zak\h is that the one who
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