Paying Zakah to Settle the Debt of a Broke Brother
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The questioner says: My brother has children and has been in debt for ten years. I did not know about this debt of his until this year. I am well-off, praise be to Allah, but his debt is large, and he is also a man of dignity. Is it permissible for me to collect zakah for this debt that he is unable to pay, and then make up the shortfall? He says: I will make up the shortfall from my own money and continue collecting zakah until I have gathered the full amount.
The Shaykh:
Repeat the question.
The questioner:
The questioner says: My brother has children and has been in debt for ten years. I did not know about this debt of his until this year. I am well-off, praise be to Allah, but his debt is large. He is also a man of dignity. Is it permissible for me to collect zakah for this debt that he is unable to pay, and then make up the shortfall from my own money, and continue collecting zakah until I have gathered the full amount?
The Shaykh:
Is his brother alive or dead?
The questioner:
Alive.
The Shaykh:
If he is in debt and in financial difficulty and unable to pay it, it is permissible to pay it off from the zakah, from your zakah, or you may ask other Muslims for their zakah until this debt is paid. It is permissible to pay zakah to a debtor in financial difficulty because he is among those in debt. The debtor is of two types: one who is in debt for himself and one who is in debt for another. This man who has a debt is in debt for himself, so you or someone else should pay off from your zakah or from theirs what he is unable to pay. You are doing a good deed, and may Allah reward you with good. Yes.
The questioner says: My brother has children and has been in debt for ten years. I did not know about this debt of his until this year. I am well-off, praise be to Allah, but his debt is large, and he is also a man of dignity. Is it permissible for me to collect zakah for this debt that he is unable to pay, and then make up the shortfall? He says: I will make up the shortfall from my own money and continue collecting zakah until I have gathered the full amount.
The Shaykh:
Repeat the question.
The questioner:
The questioner says: My brother has children and has been in debt for ten years. I did not know about this debt of his until this year. I am well-off, praise be to Allah, but his debt is large. He is also a man of dignity. Is it permissible for me to collect zakah for this debt that he is unable to pay, and then make up the shortfall from my own money, and continue collecting zakah until I have gathered the full amount?
The Shaykh:
Is his brother alive or dead?
The questioner:
Alive.
The Shaykh:
If he is in debt and in financial difficulty and unable to pay it, it is permissible to pay it off from the zakah, from your zakah, or you may ask other Muslims for their zakah until this debt is paid. It is permissible to pay zakah to a debtor in financial difficulty because he is among those in debt. The debtor is of two types: one who is in debt for himself and one who is in debt for another. This man who has a debt is in debt for himself, so you or someone else should pay off from your zakah or from theirs what he is unable to pay. You are doing a good deed, and may Allah reward you with good. Yes.
Source
كلمات رمضانية 12-09-1432هـ — alfawzan.live (27:08)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.