Is it permissible to give Zakat funds to a traveler (*Ibn al-Sabil*) passing through who intends to go to a city other than his hometown?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Deposits
Primary text
It is permissible to give the traveler enough to reach his intended destination and return to his home, as this constitutes assistance for a permissible journey that achieves a correct purpose. This concession is conditional upon the journey being either an act of worship, such as Hajj, Jihad, or visiting parents, or a permissible matter, such as seeking livelihood or trade. Giving aid for a journey involving sin is forbidden because it is assisting and causing sin, which is treated as the sin itself, since the means to a matter are judged by the ruling of that matter.
Supporting text
Regarding a journey purely for recreation or leisure, there are two views: one opinion permits giving aid because it is not a sin, while another view prohibits it because such a journey involves no necessity. The stronger view is that aid should not be given for a journey away from his home city because if that were permissible, it would be permissible for someone initiating travel from his own city. Furthermore, if the purpose is Jihad, he receives from the share designated for *Sabil Allah* (the way of God), and if it is Hajj, other matters are more important. Since aid is not given for these two categories, it is certainly not given for lesser matters. The religious legislation permitted aid specifically for the traveler's return to his home because that is a necessity he cannot do without; therefore, other types of journeys cannot be equated to it due to lack of textual basis or valid analogy.