Zakat fisabillilah

First of all,this very long post and hope we can have nice and educated discussion on this..

Last year, my country faced a situation where the child of a well-established ex-mufti received a full zakat fisabilillah scholarship. This raised questions for me because I’ve always understood zakat to be primarily for the impoverished. I know there are exceptions for other zakat categories, such as muallaf (new Muslims), which I can understand logically. But in the case of fisabilillah, I find it harder to justify.

The child in question was furthering their studies in Islamic teachings, but how can we guarantee that they will use their knowledge to defend Islam in the future? It feels morally wrong to me when there are many underprivileged students who could benefit from this zakat instead.

I sought clarification and asked a scholar from another country via a zakat website. They explained that the definition of fisabilillah for zakat purposes is not a matter of consensus among scholars. Some scholars believe zakat cannot be given to students of knowledge or those who preach Islam, while others allow it. In other words, this issue falls into a grey area.

After reflecting on this, I decided that I could not accept my country’s fatwa on this matter because I personally feel it is morally wrong. Instead, I chose to follow the opinion of other scholars who align more with my understanding of zakat.

When I shared my thoughts on X (Twitter), my post went viral, and I faced massive backlash. People called me ignorant, accused me of distorting my aqidah (beliefs), and even claimed I was on the verge of apostasy for disagreeing with the fatwa and questioning the ex-mufti’s decision.

I admit I have a biased view of this situation because I feel my community idolizes the ex-mufti too much. However, I turned to platforms like Reddit to hear opinions from different cultures and perspectives.

So, my question is: Am I wrong for thinking this way? Is my opinion valid, or does questioning this make me a sinner or even a kafir?