Is it permissible to pay off the debt of a deceased person from zakah?

Question : Suppose a man dies with a debt and has no estate from which the debt can be paid. Is it permissible for us to pay the debt on behalf of the deceased because he is in debt and has no estate to settle it, or is it not permissible? Zakah is for the living.

Answer : The evidence that it is not permissible is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when a deceased person was brought to him with a debt, did not pay his debt from zakah. But when Allah granted him victory and the conquests opened up and wealth became abundant with him, whenever a man with a debt and no means of repayment was brought to him, he would say, "I am more deserving of the believers than they are of themselves," and he would pay their debts. If the debt of a deceased person could be paid from zakah, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have paid it from zakah and prayed over him. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr and Abu 'Ubayd mentioned that the scholars agreed that it is not permissible to pay the debt of a deceased person from zakah. However, there is a consideration regarding the breaking of this consensus, as some scholars have permitted it. But the opinion permitting it is the weaker position.
Also, if we were to say that the debts of the dead are paid, the charity of the living would be directed toward paying the debts of the dead. A person would say, "This is a deceased person held back by his debt; I will pay his debt," while the living person might be provided for. This presents a problem, because it means we are paying the debts of the dead and leaving the debts of the living. The living person is more deserving of relief. If he has a debt, we say: If this deceased person who has a debt took the money of people intending to repay it, then Allah will repay it on his behalf, as is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):