It is recommended to direct one’s zakah to needy relatives who are not among those whose maintenance is legally binding on him, beginning with the closest and then the next in line, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Your charity to a relative counts as charity and as maintaining kinship ties,” reported by the Five and deemed sound by al-Tirmidhi.

It is not permissible to give zakah to the Banu Hashim—that is, the families of al-‘Abbas, ‘Ali, Ja‘far, ‘Aqil, al-Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, and Abu Lahab—because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Charity is not befitting for the family of Muhammad; it is only the impurities of the people,” related by Muslim.

Zakah may likewise not be given to a poor woman whose wealthy husband provides for her, nor to a poor person who has a well-off relative supporting him, for such maintenance makes them free of need.

A person may not pay the zakah due on his wealth to relatives whose maintenance is incumbent upon him, for by doing so he would be protecting his own property. If, however, he has been supporting someone purely as a voluntary act of kindness, it is permissible for him to give that person from his zakah. In the Ṣaḥīḥ it is narrated that the wife of ‘Abdullah asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about her orphaned nephews who were in her care: “May I give them my zakah?” He replied, “Yes.”