Recipients of Zakaat

Q: Can I use zakat money to dig a well for poor people?

Q: A woman who is a widow with no children has more than the nisaab amount, which is invested but the income from it is less than her monthly expenses. Can this woman be assisted with zakaat to cover her monthly shortfall in her expenses.

Q: Can I give zakaat to my mother-in-law who is a widow and her two sons are not able to fulfil her needs?

Q: My husband is in heavy debts. I have a good amount of gold given to me in my marriage as a gift by my parents, in-laws and relatives. The zakat on gold amounts to thousands of rupees. I am a housewife so whatever my husband gives me for my personal expenses is the only income I have. First year of my marriage I sold a few items of my gold and paid off the zakat to nearest relatives who were in need. Now I heard about this following hadith: Al-Bukhaari (1462) and Muslim (1000) from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him), that when the Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) commanded the women to give in charity, Zaynab the wife of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood came to him and said: “O Prophet of Allaah, today you told us to give in charity. I have some jewellery and I want to give it in charity, but Ibn Mas’ood claims that he and his child are more deserving of my charity.” The Nabi (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “Ibn Mas’ood has spoken the truth. Your husband and child are more deserving of your charity.” So I ask you if you could clear my doubts regarding it accordingly. Can I give the amount my husband gave to me for my peesonal expenses as zakat back to my husband so he could pay off his debts? 

Q: We buy milk for our students who can receive Zakaat with Zakaat funds and distribute it to them. Sometimes the milk is surplus. We buy this milk and put the money into the Zakaat funds. Is this permissible?

Q: An orthodontist does braces for the teeth. Some patients are brought to him by people saying that these are people worthy of Zakaat, do their treatment and you can count it as you giving Zakaat money to the value of the treatment. However, there doesn't seem to be tamleek here. How can he do the treatment for these poor patients and count it as Zakaat?

Q: Please advice on the following: If a Darul Uloom collects zakat and their financials indicate that the bulk of the funds are for wages etc. When we asked them about it, they responded that we receive zakat for the students fees from donors. The funds directed to the payments of fees would become lillah. Please advise if this is permissible.

Q: If children, grandchildren are adults who live on their own and do not possess the Zakaah Nisaab, can Zakaah be given to them if the parents are not wealthy but possess the Zakaah nisaab?

Q: I am a dialysis patient requiring medication every month for approximately 1 year and if not taken, it can be life threatening. Due to the price of these medications being expensive and way out of my budget, so a Muslim medical organisation offered to pay for the medication but through zakaat funds. My question is that despite being sahib-e-nisab, will it be permissible to accept it in this dire circumstance?

Q:

1. Can my wife use her zakat money to send my parents or other relatives to hajj?

2. Can she save her zakat money for two or three years so that it reaches certain amount and could be used for bigger causes?

3. What are the ways in which the zaakat money can be used, like school or university education of a Muslim student?

4. Can it be used to support parents or in laws?