Paying for relative’s `Umrah from zakah: permissible?

It is not permissible for us to pay for our relatives `Umrah from our zakah because `Umrah is not obligatory. However, we will be greatly rewarded by Almighty Allah if we help them to perform `Umrah.

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada , states: We can definitely take our family members for `Umrah if we can afford to do so. In fact, this would be considered an extremely meritorious act; however, we are not allowed to pay for this with zakah. This is because `Umrah is not fard (obligatory), so paying for it cannot be considered as essential. Zakah should be directed to far greater priorities.
According to some scholars, including Ibn Taymiyah, the case of Hajj is different for a person who has not performed it before. In this case it is permissible to give zakah to those who have never performed Hajj.