Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Shaykh Hamza Karamali, SunniPath Academy Teacher
If a man is able to work but he has become poor because he is not willing to work, does he still deserve to be zakat recipient?
If a man is able to earn a living that suffices him and the dependants that he is required to support such as his small children, his poor parents and his wife, and he is able to find an occupation that is suitable for him, then he may not be given zakat because he has sufficed himself and is not in need of it. It would be not permissible for him to take it with the claim that he is poor or in need.
Abu Dawud and Tirmidhi related with a good chain, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said, “Charity is not permissible for the rich nor for the able-bodied. ” I.e, the one able to earn a living.
However, if a man is able to earn a living, but he cannot find an occupation suitable to him, or he can find one, but it does not suffice him and his dependants, then he does have a right to take zakat.
الجواب: إذا كان الشخصُ قادراً على كسب ما يكفيه هو وعياله الذين تجب عليه نفقتُهم كأولاده الصغار ووالديه الفقيرين وزوجته، ووجدَ عملاً يليقُ به لم يُعطَ من الزكاة؛ لأنه يصير مكتفياً بذلك غنياً عن الزكاة فلا يحلُّ له أخذُها بوصف الفقر والمسكنة؛ لما أخرجه أبو داود والترمذي بسندٍ حسن أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم قال:” لا تحل الصدقة لغني ولا لذي مِرَّةٍ سَوِيٍّ “. أي: قادر على الكسب.
أما من كان قادراً على الكسب لكنه لم يجد عملاً يليق به، أو وجده وكان لا يكفيه هو وعياله استحقَّ أخذَ الزكاة.