Is it permissible to give zakah to a poor person who has debts?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Please. Peace be upon you. Yes, peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you.
The questioner : A question on the phone? Yes, if you please. I have a question about a man who is in debt; I mean a man in debt. Listen, yes. And I am among those who are not clear about it, and he is very poor, extremely poor. Is it permissible, for example, for me to give him from my zakah, or not?
The Shaykh : It is permissible for you to give him from your zakah.
The questioner : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible.
The questioner : I mean, I want a sum from him.
The Shaykh : I say it is better than this that you look for those who are demanding it.
The questioner : I do not hear you.
The Shaykh : I say that you look for those who are demanding it.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Ask who among those are demanding it?
The questioner : Your brother is a bit far away, if you please.
The Shaykh : I say, ask who they are who are demanding it? Ask who is demanding it? You are demanding, for example, one thousand riyals, and one person is demanding one thousand riyals, and a third is demanding one thousand riyals. Take two thousand from your zakah and give it to those who are demanding it.
The questioner : I do not give it to him directly.
The Shaykh : No, because if you give it to him, he might lose it.
The questioner : He is in need, may you live long. I say he is in need; his house is full of children and it is a rented house.
The Shaykh : There is no harm in giving it to him; there is no harm in giving it to him.
The questioner : We gave it.
The Shaykh : He himself. Yes. Give it to him himself.
The questioner : I give it to him.
The Shaykh : Yes, I say there is no harm in giving it to them.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. I mean, giving them the zakah, there is no harm. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : And you.
The Shaykh : Peace be upon you.
The questioner : A question on the phone? Yes, if you please. I have a question about a man who is in debt; I mean a man in debt. Listen, yes. And I am among those who are not clear about it, and he is very poor, extremely poor. Is it permissible, for example, for me to give him from my zakah, or not?
The Shaykh : It is permissible for you to give him from your zakah.
The questioner : Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible.
The questioner : I mean, I want a sum from him.
The Shaykh : I say it is better than this that you look for those who are demanding it.
The questioner : I do not hear you.
The Shaykh : I say that you look for those who are demanding it.
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Ask who among those are demanding it?
The questioner : Your brother is a bit far away, if you please.
The Shaykh : I say, ask who they are who are demanding it? Ask who is demanding it? You are demanding, for example, one thousand riyals, and one person is demanding one thousand riyals, and a third is demanding one thousand riyals. Take two thousand from your zakah and give it to those who are demanding it.
The questioner : I do not give it to him directly.
The Shaykh : No, because if you give it to him, he might lose it.
The questioner : He is in need, may you live long. I say he is in need; his house is full of children and it is a rented house.
The Shaykh : There is no harm in giving it to him; there is no harm in giving it to him.
The questioner : We gave it.
The Shaykh : He himself. Yes. Give it to him himself.
The questioner : I give it to him.
The Shaykh : Yes, I say there is no harm in giving it to them.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. I mean, giving them the zakah, there is no harm. May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : And you.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 908- هل تجوز الزكاة على شخص فقير وعليه ديون؟/سؤال على الهاتف 📞 /ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.