The priority of paying off a debt over a bequest for Hajj
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner, who is an officer, asks: To whom does one who performs Hajj on behalf of another direct the bequest, O Shaykh? Especially since we find many benefactors who allocate a portion of their wealth to certain people to perform Hajj, and some of them happen to have a debt. Is it permissible to take money from this bequest to pay off the debt, or is it obligatory for him to perform Hajj?
Answer:
No, a bequest is not valid until the debt is paid off. The debt takes precedence over the bequest. So he pays off the debt, and if anything remains, the bequest is carried out.
This questioner, who is an officer, asks: To whom does one who performs Hajj on behalf of another direct the bequest, O Shaykh? Especially since we find many benefactors who allocate a portion of their wealth to certain people to perform Hajj, and some of them happen to have a debt. Is it permissible to take money from this bequest to pay off the debt, or is it obligatory for him to perform Hajj?
Answer:
No, a bequest is not valid until the debt is paid off. The debt takes precedence over the bequest. So he pays off the debt, and if anything remains, the bequest is carried out.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/062 — archive.org (14:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.