— whether that was under compulsion or by choice, and whether he deals with it justly or unjustly.

Section
The zakah obligation is not fulfilled by giving it to a non-Muslim, to a slave, to someone who is wealthy through property or earnings, to a person whose maintenance one is already required to provide, to one’s own wife, or to any member of Banu Hashim.

If he unknowingly gives it to someone who is not entitled and later learns of the fact, his duty remains outstanding; he must recover it from that person together with any increase it has produced. But if he gives it to someone he believes to be poor and the recipient later proves to be affluent, his obligation is nonetheless discharged.¹

It is recommended to distribute one’s zakah among relatives whom one is not obliged to support, according to their needs, and among other kin—such as one’s paternal aunt or one’s brother’s daughter.² It is also valid to give it to someone whose expenses one has voluntarily undertaken by including him among one’s dependants.³

Section
Supererogatory charity is commendable at all times—especially when done discreetly, in blessed times and places, and toward one’s neighbor and relatives—for it is both charity and the strengthening of family ties. Whoever gives away wealth in a manner that diminishes funds he is duty-bound to spend, or that harms himself or his creditor, commits a sin thereby.