whom he supports because of their poverty and incapacity. We say: this is something Allah has made obligatory upon you, for the maintenance of a needy relative is due from the one among his kin who is able. It is therefore impermissible for you to give them anything from your zakah, because their upkeep must come out of your own wealth and zakah is not meant to spare a person the duty of maintenance. Thus, when you spend on these poor relatives of yours, you are in fact discharging a legal duty that Allah has imposed on you; since they are poor and you are able to provide for them, giving them zakah is not allowed.

Postponing zakah
Question: I am a Sudanese working in the State of Qatar, and I own some sheep in Sudan. I have now been in Qatar for more than a year. May I delay paying the zakah on those sheep until after I return to Sudan, bearing in mind that I did not pay zakah on them last year while I was here in Qatar? After I return from Sudan, should I wait until a second lunar year has passed and then pay zakah for both years together, or should I pay the zakah that is due for the past year right away? Please guide us, and may Allah reward you with goodness.

Answer: There is no doubt that zakah is one of the pillars of Islam and that it must be paid as soon as a lunar year is completed, provided one has the ability to do so. If, as you have said, you are absent from your wealth—your livestock being in Sudan while you reside in Qatar—then you should appoint someone to act on your behalf and pay the zakah at its proper time. Doing so hastens the fulfillment of the obligation and guarantees that the right owed is discharged, lest something befall you—death, forgetfulness, or the like—and the payment of the obligatory due be delayed or become impossible.

As for what you have mentioned about whether, when you travel to Sudan, you should postpone paying the zakah for the previous year