The heir has the duty of providing maintenance for the person he inherits from, as he is legally bound to provide for him. Therefore, if he were to enrich him with his Zakat to cover his maintenance, the benefit of his Zakat would return to him; thus, it is not permissible, similar to paying it to his father or settling his debt with it. The Hadith can be interpreted as referring to voluntary charity, so it is construed in that manner. Based on this, if one of two parties inherits from the other but the other does not, such as a paternal aunt with her brother’s son, or an emancipated person with the son (5) of his emancipator, then the heir among them has the duty of providing for the one he inherits from (6), and he may not pay his Zakat to him. The one who is inherited from, however, does not have the duty of providing for his heir, and he is not prevented from paying his Zakat to him because the requirement for the prohibition is absent. If there were two brothers, one of whom has a son and the other has no children, the father of the son has the duty of maintaining his brother, and he may not pay his Zakat to him. The one (7) who has no children may pay his Zakat to his brother, and he is not bound to provide for him because he is barred from his inheritance. A similar view is held by al-Thawri. As for the distant kin (dhawi al-arham) in the circumstances where they do inherit, it is permissible to pay Zakat to them, according to the apparent position of the school; this is because their kinship is weak, as they do not inherit alongside an agnate (asaba) or a sharer (dhu fard), other than one of the two spouses. Therefore, it does not prevent the payment of Zakat, just like the kinship of other Muslims, for his wealth will go to them if he has no heir.

425 - Issue: He said: (Nor to the husband, nor to the wife).

As for the wife, it is not permissible to pay Zakat to her by consensus. Ibn al-Mundhir said: The scholars have reached a consensus that a man may not give his wife from Zakat. This is because her maintenance is mandatory upon him, so she becomes self-sufficient through it from taking Zakat; thus, it is not permissible to pay it to her, just as if he paid it to her as a way of providing for her. As for the husband, there are two narrations regarding him. The first is that it is not permissible to pay it to him. This is the preference of Abu Bakr and the school of Abu Hanifah, because he is one of the two spouses, so it is not permissible for the other to pay Zakat to him, just like the other case. Furthermore, she benefits from paying it to him; for if he is unable to provide for her,