What is the ruling on paying zakah to a father who is in debt?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Shaykh, my father is in debt for a very large amount, and I have zakat al-mal. Should I pay my father from the zakah to settle the debt?
Answer:
If your father is unable to pay, settle it for him from your own wealth. This is an act of dutifulness; this is dutifulness to your father. As for the zakah, do not pay it to your father. It is not permissible to pay zakah to a father or a son, neither to an ancestor nor a descendant. It is not permissible to pay zakah to you, but you should settle your father's debt from your wealth other than the zakah. This is an act of dutifulness and kindness toward him.
Shaykh, my father is in debt for a very large amount, and I have zakat al-mal. Should I pay my father from the zakah to settle the debt?
Answer:
If your father is unable to pay, settle it for him from your own wealth. This is an act of dutifulness; this is dutifulness to your father. As for the zakah, do not pay it to your father. It is not permissible to pay zakah to a father or a son, neither to an ancestor nor a descendant. It is not permissible to pay zakah to you, but you should settle your father's debt from your wealth other than the zakah. This is an act of dutifulness and kindness toward him.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم دفع الزكاة للوالد المدين؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.