The Zakah of a Debt Owed to a Friend
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: Shaykh, if I lent a sum of money to a friend of mine at work, and a lunar year has passed, and the money is still with them and they have not returned it to me, is zakah due on it?
Answer:
If they are able to pay, but you have given them time and been lenient with them, and they are able to pay, and if you asked them for it they would give it to you, then it is obligatory for you to pay its zakah, because it is like the money in your possession, which you can access whenever you want it. But if they are unable to pay, or if they are wealthy but are stalling and you do not know whether you will get your right from them or not, then there is no zakah on it until you receive it, in which case you pay zakah on it for one year only. Yes.
The questioner says: Shaykh, if I lent a sum of money to a friend of mine at work, and a lunar year has passed, and the money is still with them and they have not returned it to me, is zakah due on it?
Answer:
If they are able to pay, but you have given them time and been lenient with them, and they are able to pay, and if you asked them for it they would give it to you, then it is obligatory for you to pay its zakah, because it is like the money in your possession, which you can access whenever you want it. But if they are unable to pay, or if they are wealthy but are stalling and you do not know whether you will get your right from them or not, then there is no zakah on it until you receive it, in which case you pay zakah on it for one year only. Yes.
Source
قناة «مؤسسة الدعوة الخيرية»، فتاوى على الهواء 17-08-1434هـ - الفوزان — youtube.com (43:08)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.