A Wife Can Give Zakat to Her Husband
It is narrated from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that when Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him), intended to give the zakat on her jewelry, Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) declared himself and his children to be more deserving of the zakat. Upon this, Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Prophet ﷺ, and he said:
صدق ابن مسعود زوجك وولدك أحق من تصدقت به عليهم
“Ibn Mas’ud spoke correctly. Your husband and his children are more deserving of your charity.”
[Bukhari: 1462, Kitab al-Zakat: Bab al-Zakat ala al-Aqarib]
(Jumhur) A wife can give zakat to her husband.
(Shafi’is, Malikis, Hanafis, Hanbalis) A wife cannot give zakat to her husband. Imam Abu Yusuf (may Allah have mercy on him) and Imam Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) also hold this position.
[Nayl al-Awtar: 140/3, Sharh al-Muhadhdhab: 138/6, al-Umm: 69/2, al-Mughni: 100/4, al-Mabsut: 11/3]
◈ Scholars have also differed on whether a husband can give zakat to his wife. However, the more preponderant view is that a husband cannot give zakat to his wife.
(Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on him)) Scholars have reached a consensus that a man cannot give anything from zakat money to his wife, because her maintenance and expenses are obligatory upon him.
[Nayl al-Awtar: 141/3]
(Amir San’ani (may Allah have mercy on him)) Scholars have agreed that it is not permissible to give obligatory zakat to one’s wife.
[Subul al-Salam: 841/2]
It should be noted that a wife may give zakat to her husband only in the case where he falls under one of the eight categories of zakat recipients, and not otherwise.
