Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Assalam ‘aleykum.
Is it permissible for my mother to finance my studies through her Zakat?
Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray that this message finds you well, insha’Allah.
The basis in the Hanafi school is that a person cannot give their zakat funds to their parents or children because the benefits between them are normally shared. [Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
However, there is a dispensation in the Maliki school which allows for your scenario. it would be permitted to follow it, but on condition you do so taking into account all conditions of validity and soundness which you can confirm with your local Maliki scholar.
Please also see: Zakat: How to Calculate & Whom to Give and: Is Your Zakat Due? – A Reader and Resources on Giving Zakat and: Why Is Mixing Between Madhabs (Talfiq) Impermissible When The Earlier Generations Seem To Have Done It?
And Allah alone knows best.
Wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani