The ruling on paying off a deceased person's debt from zakah
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
We begin this episode with this question from one of the brothers, Abu Muhammad from Jeddah. He says: My father passed away (may Allah have mercy on him) and left a debt on him. Is it permissible for me to pay off this debt from my zakah? I should mention that he has a property in which my brothers from my father, who are minors, and my father's wife reside. I hope you will answer this question, Honorable Shaykh, which has truly embarrassed us.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. He said:[At-Tawbah 9:59-60] to the end of the verse. So it is for the living among the poor and the needy, and what is mentioned in the verse, and it is not for the dead. So the debt of the deceased is not paid off from zakah, especially since you say that he is your father.
And the zakah of the son is not valid for his father, and this is another obstacle. You say that he has a house in which his minor sons and their mother, his wife, reside. We say that the house must be sold and the debt of the deceased paid off. The disbelievers and their mother have no right to anything except their share of the inheritance. The debt takes precedence over the inheritance. If the debt exhausts the value of the house, they have nothing. And if something remains after the debt, it is for the heirs.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
We begin this episode with this question from one of the brothers, Abu Muhammad from Jeddah. He says: My father passed away (may Allah have mercy on him) and left a debt on him. Is it permissible for me to pay off this debt from my zakah? I should mention that he has a property in which my brothers from my father, who are minors, and my father's wife reside. I hope you will answer this question, Honorable Shaykh, which has truly embarrassed us.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. He said:
desirous toward Allah," [it would have been better for them]. (60) Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect
اللَّهِ رَاغِبُونَ إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَاAnd the zakah of the son is not valid for his father, and this is another obstacle. You say that he has a house in which his minor sons and their mother, his wife, reside. We say that the house must be sold and the debt of the deceased paid off. The disbelievers and their mother have no right to anything except their share of the inheritance. The debt takes precedence over the inheritance. If the debt exhausts the value of the house, they have nothing. And if something remains after the debt, it is for the heirs.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/185 — archive.org (0:59)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.