The eight groups
Who can receive zakat from a zakat charity
The Quran names who zakat is for. A charity should tell you which of them it serves.
Who a zakat charity may give zakat to
Only the eight groups the Quran names (Quran 9:60). Zakat is taken from those who have it and given to those who don’t (Sahih al-Bukhari 1395).
Paying in 2027? Zakat 2027 shows how UK Muslim charities compare on their public records.
The groups a zakat charity mostly serves
The poor and the needy
Families without enough for food, shelter or health: most charity zakat goes here.
Those in debt
People who cannot pay what they owe, such as a family facing eviction.
The stranded traveller
Someone cut off from their own money, such as people displaced by war.
Those who collect it
The people who gather and pass it on, which is why the policy on costs matters.
The full list, and who is left out
Freeing captives, winning hearts and the cause of Allah complete the eight named in Quran 9:60. Zakat is not for buildings, campaigns or your own parents and children, whom you support anyway. Zakat al-Maal sets the eight out one by one.