their poor." This refers specifically to the poor of their own land. When Mu'adh sent the charity from Yemen to Umar, Umar disapproved of it and said: "I did not send you as a tax collector, nor as a taker of poll tax, but I sent you to take from the wealthy of the people and return it to their poor." Mu'adh said: "I have not sent you anything while I find someone who would take it from me." Narrated by Abu Ubayd in "Al-Amwal". It was also reported from Ibrahim ibn Ata, the freedman of Imran ibn Husayn, that Ziyad, or one of the governors, sent Imran to collect the charity. When he returned, he said: "Where is the wealth?" He said: "Is it for the wealth that you sent me? We have taken it from where we used to take it during the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and we have placed it where we used to place it during the era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." This is because the objective is to enrich the poor through it; if we permitted its transfer, it would lead to the poor of that land remaining in need.

Section: If one contravenes this and transfers it, it is valid according to the view of most scholars. Al-Qadi said: The apparent implication of Ahmad's speech suggests this, and I have not found a text from him regarding this issue. Abu al-Khattab mentioned two reports regarding it: one of them, that it is valid. He chose this, because he has paid the right to its deserving recipient, so he is absolved of it, like a debt, and as if he had distributed it within its land. The other, that it is not valid. Ibn Hamid chose this, because he has paid the Zakah to someone other than the one he was commanded to pay it to, resembling the case if he had paid it to someone other than the [prescribed] categories.

Section: If the poor of its own land are self-sufficient without it, then it is permissible to transfer it. Ahmad explicitly stated this, saying: "Charity may be transported to the Imam if there are no poor people in it, or if there is a surplus beyond their needs." And he also said: "The charity of a people shall not be taken out from them from one land to another, unless there is a surplus beyond them..."