Recipients of Zakat

The recipients of Zakat are exactly as follows, as God defines them:

[2:215] They ask you about giving: say, "The charity you give shall go to the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien." Any good you do, God is fully aware thereof.

Five categories. God's list. Not expanded, not restructured, not reordered. What follows is each category as the Quran defines it.

(1) Parents - Mother and Father

These are the first and highest priority recipients of Zakat. Step-parents may fall under this category given their role in upbringing and care. The Quran consistently pairs the commandment to honor parents alongside the commandment to worship God alone (2:83, 17:23), reflecting the weight God places on this relationship. If your parents are in need, they are your first obligation before anyone else.

(2) Relatives - Qrabin

The Arabic root QAF-RA-BA indicates closeness and nearness, meaning this category is specific to direct blood relatives - brothers, sisters, and those of immediate kinship. It does not extend to distant acquaintances or the broader community, but to those with whom you share the closest family ties. After parents, these are the people with the most direct claim on your Zakat.

(3) Orphans

Children who have lost their parents and have no one to provide for them. The Quran mentions the orphan repeatedly as among the most vulnerable members of any community (4:2, 4:10, 2:177), and their care is treated as a direct reflection of one's sincerity of faith. Zakat directed toward orphans ensures that the most defenseless are not left without provision.

(4) The Poor

Those who lack sufficient means to meet their basic needs - food, shelter, clothing, and medicine. This is perhaps the most visible category of Zakat recipient and the one most people associate with charity. The poor are not to be looked down upon; God reminds us that provisions are His to give and His to withhold (34:39), and that the wealth passing through our hands carries their right within it.

(5) The Traveling Alien

A person who is away from their home, without access to their resources, and finds themselves in need while in a foreign place. Distance and unfamiliarity can strip a person of their usual means of support entirely, making them temporarily as vulnerable as the poor. Zakat reaches them too - not because of their permanent condition, but because of their immediate circumstance.