The relied-upon position, and the sounder view, is that he is not to be given from zakah in particular, because Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Cooperate in righteousness and piety, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression.” [al-Ma'idah 5:2]

For this reason, the scholars said: Whoever travels in order to break his fast has committed something forbidden by traveling and by breaking his fast, unless he repents. This is easy: we may say to him, “Repent to Allah, and we will give you [zakah].” He thereby gains two benefits:

First: repentance.

Second: fulfillment of his need.

As for one who travels for a disliked purpose, he is not given, because this would be assistance in what is disliked. But one who travels for a permissible purpose, such as recreation, or for an obligatory or recommended purpose, is given.

—not one who sets out on a journey from his own town; rather, he is given what will enable him to reach his hometown.

His statement, “not one who sets out on a journey from his own town,” means that someone initiating a journey from his own town cannot properly be described as a wayfarer. Thus, if he says, “I need to travel to Madinah,” but has no money, we do not give him [zakah] under the category of a wayfarer, because he cannot properly be described as one. However, if his journey to Madinah is urgent—for medical treatment, for example—and he does not have the means to travel, then he is given under another category: poverty.

His statement, “he is given what will enable him to reach his hometown,” apparently indicates that he is given what will enable him to reach the destination of his journey and then return. Thus, if we suppose that a man wishes to perform Hajj from al-Qasim by way of Madinah, and his travel funds are lost in Madinah, he is given what will enable him to reach the ultimate destination he intended and then return—not merely what will enable him to return—because his purpose would be missed if we were to say, “Return.”