Is it permissible for a creditor to order a debtor to pay the zakah of the money on his behalf?
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The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner: Why don't we ask a question, meaning, suppose it is one thousand, two thousand, or three thousand dinars, and he says to him, "Take it, but you must pay its zakah." Is this riba, meaning?
The Shaykh: How so?
The questioner: I want to give you one thousand or two thousand dinars for one or two years, but with the condition that you pay the zakah that comes out of it.
The Shaykh: It is clearly written in its title as open riba.
The questioner: I want to pay the zakah, sir.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: The zakah must be paid by him.
The Shaykh: The zakah is paid if the money remains with the borrower. For example, I borrowed a thousand from you to work with it, but I put the thousand in the box and a lunar year passed over it. I want to calculate the zakah, and you, who gave them to me, do you want to calculate the zakah for them?
The questioner : Also.
The Shaykh: Twice more.
The questioner: The money is not in my hand so that it can be calculated for them.
The Shaykh: How.
The questioner: It is not in my hand. I am not keeping them. I cannot take them from you. Even if I take them from you, they become mine. I do not need them; they are not for me.
The Shaykh: How are they not yours?
The questioner: I mean the thousand dinars.
The Shaykh: I mean these have now exited your ownership.
The questioner: Ah, I mean I gave you to dispose of them.
The Shaykh: They have exited your ownership.
The questioner: I mean, sir, he says to you that this debt, until Allah returns it, if this man...
Another questioner: May Allah protect us, they do not return.
The Shaykh: Sir, every question has an answer, but your previous logic suggests that you think they have exited your ownership, whereas in reality they have not exited your ownership. The debt, according to the jurists, is of two types: they have a beautiful expression, "living" and "dead." The living debt has zakah on it. The dead debt has no zakah on it unless it returns. Is that clear?
I mean, I took a thousand from you and it was lost and you despaired of it; this does not have zakah calculated on it, no zakah is calculated on it every year. This is unlike the case where you are reassured that I took this thousand and am working with it and will return it to you, and so on. In that case, you must calculate the zakah. But if it is predominant in your mind that this thousand will not return to you, no zakah is calculated on it unless it returns at the end of time. At that point, it is obligatory to pay the zakah. Yes.
The questioner: Why don't we ask a question, meaning, suppose it is one thousand, two thousand, or three thousand dinars, and he says to him, "Take it, but you must pay its zakah." Is this riba, meaning?
The Shaykh: How so?
The questioner: I want to give you one thousand or two thousand dinars for one or two years, but with the condition that you pay the zakah that comes out of it.
The Shaykh: It is clearly written in its title as open riba.
The questioner: I want to pay the zakah, sir.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: The zakah must be paid by him.
The Shaykh: The zakah is paid if the money remains with the borrower. For example, I borrowed a thousand from you to work with it, but I put the thousand in the box and a lunar year passed over it. I want to calculate the zakah, and you, who gave them to me, do you want to calculate the zakah for them?
The questioner : Also.
The Shaykh: Twice more.
The questioner: The money is not in my hand so that it can be calculated for them.
The Shaykh: How.
The questioner: It is not in my hand. I am not keeping them. I cannot take them from you. Even if I take them from you, they become mine. I do not need them; they are not for me.
The Shaykh: How are they not yours?
The questioner: I mean the thousand dinars.
The Shaykh: I mean these have now exited your ownership.
The questioner: Ah, I mean I gave you to dispose of them.
The Shaykh: They have exited your ownership.
The questioner: I mean, sir, he says to you that this debt, until Allah returns it, if this man...
Another questioner: May Allah protect us, they do not return.
The Shaykh: Sir, every question has an answer, but your previous logic suggests that you think they have exited your ownership, whereas in reality they have not exited your ownership. The debt, according to the jurists, is of two types: they have a beautiful expression, "living" and "dead." The living debt has zakah on it. The dead debt has no zakah on it unless it returns. Is that clear?
I mean, I took a thousand from you and it was lost and you despaired of it; this does not have zakah calculated on it, no zakah is calculated on it every year. This is unlike the case where you are reassured that I took this thousand and am working with it and will return it to you, and so on. In that case, you must calculate the zakah. But if it is predominant in your mind that this thousand will not return to you, no zakah is calculated on it unless it returns at the end of time. At that point, it is obligatory to pay the zakah. Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.