Current fiqh approaches regarding places to give zakat (mesarifu'z-zakat)

Zakat, one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, stands out with its significant sociological dimension compared to other acts of worship and its contemporary disputes. The practice of zakat, which involves giving a specific portion of a specified wealth to certain individuals after a lunar year has passed (havelanü'l-havl), raises several issues besides the condition of havelanü'l-havl. These issues include: determining the types of wealth eligible for zakat, updating the consistency of nisab (minimum amount of wealth required to be eligible for zakat), whether institutions can collect zakat, the impact of long-term debts on zakat, the possibility of investing zakat funds, and the contemporary equivalents of the recipients of zakat. Our study focuses on the classical and contemporary approaches to the recipients of zakat. These recipients are classified into eight categories as specified in Surah At-Tawbah (9:60): the poor, the needy, those employed to collect zakat, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, slaves, those in debt, those in the way of Allah, and travelers. Since this classification is confirmed by definitive evidence, using zakat for purposes outside these categories renders the act invalid. The aim of our study is to examine how these categories were understood by classical Islamic jurisprudence schools and the reasoning behind their interpretations, and then to identify how these categories are perceived by leading contemporary fatwa councils and modern scholars.