Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Is it permissible to give Zakah to a person who wants to perform hajj or ‘umrah? هل يجوز إعطاء زكاة المال لمن أراد الحج أو العمرة؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say:   The opinion of most of the scholars is that Zakat should not be paid for such cases because Allah the Exalted mentioned specific beneficiaries of Zakat in the verse “Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah” [at-Tawbah 9: 60], which means that it is an obligation to give Zakat to these recipients, “And Allah is Knowing and Wise”, thus the obligation to give Zakah, limitation, and specification to these types of recipients emanates from Allah’s knowledge and wisdom.