Benefit, for example, would be where the payer of zakat has poor relatives in a distant town whose need is equal to that of the poor in his own town. If he gives it to his relatives, the benefit is attained, for it is both charity and the maintaining of kinship ties.

Or there may, for example, be students of knowledge in a distant town whose need is equal to that of the poor in his own town.

This view is correct and is the one acted upon, due to the general import of the evidence: “Zakat expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy...” [al-Tawbah 9:60]—that is, for the poor and needy wherever they may be.

As for the attached pronoun in the hadith of Mu'adh, it may be generic; that is, referring to the poor among the Muslims, just as in Allah’s saying: “And tell the believing women to lower their gaze...” until He says, “...or their women...” [al-Nur 24:31]. It may also indicate specification and particular designation. However, since transferring zakat from Yemen to Medina, for example, entails a degree of difficulty and hardship, distributing it in Yemen is more considerate and more beneficial. Moreover, what evidence is there for distinguishing between the distance that permits the shortening of prayer and other distances, so long as it has been transferred from a town where people’s expectations are attached to it?

If they say, “What is less than the distance permitting the shortening of prayer is regarded as being present,” the reply is: This applies to the rulings of prayer.

Issue: The ruling on zakat al-fitr with respect to transferring it is the same as the ruling on zakat on wealth, where there is a need or benefit.

Issue: There is no harm in the imam’s appointed zakat collectors taking zakat from those liable for it and transferring it to another town, because it was collected in the town of the zakat payer, and the imam acts as the representative of the poor.