If a man has a debt owed to him by another, and he comes to give his zakah, and he says to this debtor: I have zakah; this is for you in exchange for the debt you owe.

The questioner : Regarding a person who lent another person a sum of money, and this latter person started delaying the payment of the money, and when this lender wanted to give the zakah of his wealth, he said to himself: instead of giving my zakah, I will go to this person to whom I gave this amount and say: I have forgiven you the amount of my zakah, so accept it from me. At the same time, this means he has facilitated things for the owner of the... Does this constitute having given his zakah correctly in this manner?

The Shaykh : The issue, as I understand it from the Shari'ah, requires clarification. If this debt that the owner of the wealth has against the debtor is considered a living debt; meaning he does not deny it or disavow it, but as you said, he is delaying; this is a debt called... for the living, not dead. If he denies it, it is dead. So if the debt is living, that is the first condition. The second condition: if the man is poor; because it is permissible that he delays you, and he might be of the type about which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning he is rich; yet he delays you. So it is not obligatory that he be poor merely because he is delaying. If he is poor, that is the second condition. The third and final condition is that he clarified it to him, as I said, and he accepted it from you. In that case, your conscience is cleared. Is that clear to you?

The questioner: Yes.