Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling of giving Zakat to the maid and the driver? ما حكم دفع الزكاة للخادم والسائق؟

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: If the people who work in homes and facilities (the question was about workers in the Persian Gulf  but the answer is equally applicable to anyone who is in a similar situation anywhere in the world) deserve Zakat- and this is the case mostly, because the people who are brought to work as drivers and maids are needy and poor, and are responsible for people in their home countries who need their financial support- then there is no problem in giving them Zakat. However, I remind the employers not to constantly remind the workers of the fact that they gave them Zakat, and bring up the issue whenever the worker errs, because Allah has prohibited giving charity which is followed by hurtful words, and showed that this causes loss of reward. The Zakat that is given to the workers should not be considered to be part of their salaries. Some people consider this Zakat to be a reward to the workers; if they perform their duties well, they give them Zakat but do not give them if there are shortcomings in their work. This should not be the case. We ask Allah for guidance.