Is there zakah due on a debt?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : He says: I have a debt of approximately three hundred thousand riyals, and I have one hundred and twenty thousand with some people. Is there zakah on the debt that people owe me?
The Shaykh : Is it in the army?
The questioner : Is there zakah on the debt that people owe me?
The Shaykh : Yes. If the debt that people owe a person is owed by those who are well-off and able to pay, such that if he demands his right they will give it to him, then he must pay zakah on it every year, because these people do not have it like money in his box. However, if they are delaying payment and he cannot demand it from them, or if they are unable to pay, then there is no zakah on the debt they owe him, because he is not able to benefit from this money. But if Allah makes it easy and he receives it, he must pay its zakah for the first year only.
The Shaykh : Is it in the army?
The questioner : Is there zakah on the debt that people owe me?
The Shaykh : Yes. If the debt that people owe a person is owed by those who are well-off and able to pay, such that if he demands his right they will give it to him, then he must pay zakah on it every year, because these people do not have it like money in his box. However, if they are delaying payment and he cannot demand it from them, or if they are unable to pay, then there is no zakah on the debt they owe him, because he is not able to benefit from this money. But if Allah makes it easy and he receives it, he must pay its zakah for the first year only.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[83 من 145] هل على الدين زكاة؟ الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.