A man is working and has debts, but his salary is not enough to pay them off. Is he allowed to take from the zakah?
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Question:
What is the ruling on a person who has debts and is able to work, and he is working, but his salary is not enough to pay off the debts? What is the ruling in this case? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If the debts have come due, and he is unable to pay them, and the creditors have demanded that he pay them, then there is nothing wrong with his taking from the zakah what is needed to pay off his debts; because he is in need of assistance, and Allah the Exalted prescribed the zakah for eight categories, among whom are the debtors. The debtor is divided into two types: a debtor for himself, and a debtor for another. This is a debtor for himself who is overwhelmed by debts, has no means to pay them, and is being demanded to pay them. This is among the debtors, a debtor for himself, so he takes from the zakah the amount needed to pay off his debts, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
What is the ruling on a person who has debts and is able to work, and he is working, but his salary is not enough to pay off the debts? What is the ruling in this case? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If the debts have come due, and he is unable to pay them, and the creditors have demanded that he pay them, then there is nothing wrong with his taking from the zakah what is needed to pay off his debts; because he is in need of assistance, and Allah the Exalted prescribed the zakah for eight categories, among whom are the debtors. The debtor is divided into two types: a debtor for himself, and a debtor for another. This is a debtor for himself who is overwhelmed by debts, has no means to pay them, and is being demanded to pay them. This is among the debtors, a debtor for himself, so he takes from the zakah the amount needed to pay off his debts, and praise be to Allah. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، رجل يعمل وعليه ديون، ولكن راتبه لا يكفي لسداد الديون، فهل له أن يأخذ من الزكاة؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.