As for the share allocated to those in bondage, it is to be spent on the mukātabs—slaves under contracts of emancipation—and they are given the amount needed to purchase their freedom. Another report from him states: “It is permissible to spend it on purchasing slaves who will then be emancipated.”
As for the debtors, they are of two types. One type consists of those who incurred debts for their own needs. If they are poor, they are given enough to pay their debts; if they are wealthy, they are not given this share. Ahmad said, in a report narrated by Bakr ibn Muhammad: “A debtor may have a debt while being wealthy.” He was asked about this and said: “There is evidence for this in my view: he may be given it while wealthy.” By his statement, “There is evidence for this,” he was referring to what Ahmad narrated with his chain of transmission from the Prophet ﷺ: “Charity is not lawful for a wealthy person except in five cases,” in which he included the debtor. This is understood to mean that he is wealthy only to the extent of having enough for his needs, since it is one of our principles that a debtor is left with property sufficient to meet his needs.
The second type consists of those who incurred debts for the benefit of the Muslims. They are given the amount of their debts—whether poor or wealthy—with no surplus.
As for the share allocated to the cause of Allah, it is for the warriors. They are given what they need for their jihad. If they are stationed at the frontier, they are given the expenses of traveling there and returning. As for the share allocated to the wayfarer, it is for travelers who cannot find the expenses of their journey. It is given to one merely passing through, not to someone setting out on a journey.
The zakat of each locality is to be distributed among its own people. It is not permissible to transfer the zakat of one town to another unless there are no eligible recipients there. If it is transferred despite eligible recipients being present, the obligation is not discharged. There are two reported positions from him concerning the share allocated to the cause of Allah: whether it may be transferred to the official overseeing the frontier.
Zakat may not be given to a disbeliever. Nor may it be given to close relatives belonging to Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib, in order to spare them the impurity associated with sins. Nor may it be given to one who is partly enslaved, by analogy with their view that such a person inherits according to the proportion of him that is free. If he is half free, he is given half of what suffices him, because his master covers his expenses for the other half. A man may not give his zakat to his wife. As for whether a woman may give her zakat to her husband, there are two reported positions.