Deducting a debt from zakah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Fatwa number ( 14477 )
Q: My uncle and my brother-in-law have a great deal of credit in my upbringing. I bought a car for them for fifteen thousand Egyptian pounds with the intention of sharing the price and the profit between us. When he received it, he said: It is mine, and I will pay you the price. I accepted that, and he gave me nine thousand pounds in installments over several years. Then circumstances became difficult, and he sold it and apologized, complaining about his situation and illness, and he began spending everything he had. So I intended to leave the remaining amount for him as zakah, and I forgave him when he was dying. After his death, his heirs wanted to give me my right as a debt
owed to them, but I did not accept on the basis that I had left it for him as zakah. Then I was told: Zakah does not serve as a release from a debt, and this is a large amount. When I left it with the intention of zakah and actually counted it from my zakah, is this considered zakah or not?
A: It is not valid to count the debt you have against your uncle as zakah; because in that there is preservation of your wealth, and it is obligatory for you to give zakah to those mentioned in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:60] ... the verse. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q: My uncle and my brother-in-law have a great deal of credit in my upbringing. I bought a car for them for fifteen thousand Egyptian pounds with the intention of sharing the price and the profit between us. When he received it, he said: It is mine, and I will pay you the price. I accepted that, and he gave me nine thousand pounds in installments over several years. Then circumstances became difficult, and he sold it and apologized, complaining about his situation and illness, and he began spending everything he had. So I intended to leave the remaining amount for him as zakah, and I forgave him when he was dying. After his death, his heirs wanted to give me my right as a debt
owed to them, but I did not accept on the basis that I had left it for him as zakah. Then I was told: Zakah does not serve as a release from a debt, and this is a large amount. When I left it with the intention of zakah and actually counted it from my zakah, is this considered zakah or not?
A: It is not valid to count the debt you have against your uncle as zakah; because in that there is preservation of your wealth, and it is obligatory for you to give zakah to those mentioned in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy
إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.