Repentance
[9:60]
The offerings given for the sake of God are [meant] only for the poor and the needy, and those who are in charge thereof, and those whose hearts are to be won over, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage, and [for] those who are overburdened with debts, and [for every struggle] in God’s cause, and [for] the wayfarer: [this is] an ordinance from God – and God is all-knowing, wise.

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* v.60 : See note 81 above.
* I.e., the officials entrusted with the collection and administration of zakāh funds.
* These eight categories circumscribe all the purposes for which zakāh funds may be expended. By “those whose hearts are to be won over” are apparently meant such non-Muslims as are close to understanding and, perhaps, accepting Islam, and for whose conversion every effort should be made, either directly or indirectly (i.e., by means of the widest possible propagation of the teachings of Islam). As regards the expression fi ’r-riqāb (“for the freeing of human beings from bondage”), which relates both to the ransoming of prisoners of war and to the freeing of slaves, see sūrah 2, note 146. The term al-ghārimūn describes people who are overburdened with debts contracted in good faith, which – through no fault of their own – they are subsequently unable to redeem. The expression “in God’s cause” embraces every kind of struggle in righteous causes, both in war and in peace, including expenditure for the propagation of Islam and for all charitable purposes. Regarding the meaning of ibn as-sabīl (“wayfarer”), see sūrah 2, note 145.