Waiving a debt by deducting it from the zakat of wealth
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa No. ( 20567 )
Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet,
And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the Honorable Director General of the Branch of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Guidance in the al-Bahah region: Salih ibn Ali al-Zahrani , with number (26 / 1 / 2008) and date 29 / 7 / 1419 AH, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, with number (4744) and date 3 / 8 / 1419 AH. His Excellency requested the Committee to look into the inquiry submitted by the citizen: (S.M.A. Z.), accompanied by a letter from his Excellency, which reads as follows: I dealt with a man who took cars from me and used them to help his son get married for an amount of (160,000 riyals). Then his son reneged on the agreement and left his job. I then filed a complaint against that man, and an order was issued against him to pay or be imprisoned. He was imprisoned for nine months and was unable to pay any part of that amount. Then I agreed with him to pledge two popular housing units he owns, and he owns nothing else, to settle the amount owed to him under the following conditions: that he pay me (80,000 riyals) at the end of the year 1417 AH, and (80,000 riyals) at the end of the year 1418 AH. However, the man was only able to pay thirty thousand riyals, no more, which he obtained through the generosity of charitable people. Thus, (130,000 riyals) remain owed to me, and accordingly, the popular housing units are considered my property by virtue of the deed.
The legal deed issued by the Dawas Sharia Court. Your Excellencies: I am convinced that this man is in a state of poverty, and he has no residence or shelter other than these two popular housing units, nor does he have any source of income. Your Excellencies: Please issue a ruling, may Allah preserve you, on whether it is permissible for me to consider that amount as the zakat of my wealth and exempt him from my demand for the two houses?
After studying the inquiry, the Committee responded that the principle of zakat is that it is a transfer of ownership and giving from the one upon whom it is obligatory to those who are entitled to it among its recipients. As for the creditor waiving his debt from the indebted poor people he is demanding it from and counting that as part of the zakat of his wealth, that is not permissible; because in that, he is protecting his wealth with his wealth, and safeguarding it with what he pays as zakat in exchange for the debt, and that is not permissible. However, giving him from the zakat due to his poverty, without the condition of paying the debt or part of it with it, is permissible with no harm in it. If he owns the zakat and pays the debt from it out of his own will and desire, then he may do so. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet,
And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the Honorable Director General of the Branch of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, and Guidance in the al-Bahah region: Salih ibn Ali al-Zahrani , with number (26 / 1 / 2008) and date 29 / 7 / 1419 AH, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, with number (4744) and date 3 / 8 / 1419 AH. His Excellency requested the Committee to look into the inquiry submitted by the citizen: (S.M.A. Z.), accompanied by a letter from his Excellency, which reads as follows: I dealt with a man who took cars from me and used them to help his son get married for an amount of (160,000 riyals). Then his son reneged on the agreement and left his job. I then filed a complaint against that man, and an order was issued against him to pay or be imprisoned. He was imprisoned for nine months and was unable to pay any part of that amount. Then I agreed with him to pledge two popular housing units he owns, and he owns nothing else, to settle the amount owed to him under the following conditions: that he pay me (80,000 riyals) at the end of the year 1417 AH, and (80,000 riyals) at the end of the year 1418 AH. However, the man was only able to pay thirty thousand riyals, no more, which he obtained through the generosity of charitable people. Thus, (130,000 riyals) remain owed to me, and accordingly, the popular housing units are considered my property by virtue of the deed.
The legal deed issued by the Dawas Sharia Court. Your Excellencies: I am convinced that this man is in a state of poverty, and he has no residence or shelter other than these two popular housing units, nor does he have any source of income. Your Excellencies: Please issue a ruling, may Allah preserve you, on whether it is permissible for me to consider that amount as the zakat of my wealth and exempt him from my demand for the two houses?
After studying the inquiry, the Committee responded that the principle of zakat is that it is a transfer of ownership and giving from the one upon whom it is obligatory to those who are entitled to it among its recipients. As for the creditor waiving his debt from the indebted poor people he is demanding it from and counting that as part of the zakat of his wealth, that is not permissible; because in that, he is protecting his wealth with his wealth, and safeguarding it with what he pays as zakat in exchange for the debt, and that is not permissible. However, giving him from the zakat due to his poverty, without the condition of paying the debt or part of it with it, is permissible with no harm in it. If he owns the zakat and pays the debt from it out of his own will and desire, then he may do so. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.