Giving zakat to a brother

Question

A man is wealthy, and his full brother is poor; the two do not live together but separately. May the wealthy brother give zakat to his poor brother or not? May he give two to four thousand rupees at once or not?

Answer

It is valid to give zakat to a poor brother; indeed, giving to a brother is better (afdal) than giving to others. This ruling is mentioned in the books of fiqh — al-Bahr, Alamgiri, Shami and others. Giving anyone entitled to zakat such an amount of zakat that he himself becomes an owner of the nisab is makruh; this ruling is mentioned in Maraqi al-Falah and al-Durr al-Mukhtar.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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