True. The key is that your niyyat is that “I am giving zakat”. You can’t give them Eidi with the intention of a gift and then later go “oh you know what, I will apply that towards my zakat”.
Maheen you are also correct, it doesn’t have to be given in Ramadan but people do that for 2 reasons:
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Since zakat is based on the lunar year calculations, it’s easier for people to go with Ramadan.
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Why Ramadan and why not with Muharram or any other month? Because you get more reward for every good deed in Ramadan, that’s why a lot of people choose to give zakat during Ramadan
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I know I said 2 reasons, but I just thought of it while writing the above 2 reasons. If we give zakat money during Ramadan, it can be used to help poor families and it can really make their Eid a very joyful day.
Sahar I handed part (1/4th) of my zakat to my parents who were going to send their zakat to a relative and to a friend. The relative is not only a relative but also the wife of dad’s friend. Dad’s friend married another widow because he wanted a son. The worse part is that the time he got married to this other lady, their daughter from the first marriage was married and had kids of her own. In other words, dad’s friend and his first wife were pretty old. Once he got married to this other lady and got a son, he kind of ignored his first wife. So that’s why dad likes to help her out.
The other person was dad’s friend who got cheated in a business. He started a new business with his friend and invested his life-savings in it. The business didn’t work out and his friend took off with all of the money. So he’s almost on the street now.
The remaining 3/4th of my zakat money was given online at Zakat Foundation - Welcome to the Zakat Foundation.