The Sixth: The Debtors and the Categories of Debt
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The Shaykh : And the debtors [At-Tawbah 9:60] Who are the debtors?
The debtors are those who owe money to people. Debt is divided into two categories: debt incurred to reconcile people, and debt incurred for personal needs. I will say it again: debt is of two types or categories: debt for reconciliation and debt for personal interests or specific needs of the individual. As for the first, for example, if a quarrel, dispute, or aggression occurs between two tribes, with some of them attacking others, a good and righteous man comes and says to these two tribes, "I will reconcile you by paying money to each of you." He commits in his liability to pay one million riyals: five hundred thousand to this group and five hundred thousand to that group. Do we give him from the zakah? Yes, we give him to settle this debt, because this man is a doer of good and a mediator for reconciliation among people. So, as a reward and recompense for him, we bear what he committed to, from where do we bear it? From the zakah, even if he is wealthy. As for the debtor for himself in his personal needs, such as a man who bought a house to live in for five hundred thousand riyals, it is permissible to give him from the zakah to pay off his debt. Yes, because he is a debtor, but on the condition that he is poor and does not possess what is sufficient to pay off the debt. If he possesses what is sufficient to pay off the debt, then we do not give him from the zakah, because he is self-sufficient with what he has.
and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt
وفي الرقاب والغارمينThe debtors are those who owe money to people. Debt is divided into two categories: debt incurred to reconcile people, and debt incurred for personal needs. I will say it again: debt is of two types or categories: debt for reconciliation and debt for personal interests or specific needs of the individual. As for the first, for example, if a quarrel, dispute, or aggression occurs between two tribes, with some of them attacking others, a good and righteous man comes and says to these two tribes, "I will reconcile you by paying money to each of you." He commits in his liability to pay one million riyals: five hundred thousand to this group and five hundred thousand to that group. Do we give him from the zakah? Yes, we give him to settle this debt, because this man is a doer of good and a mediator for reconciliation among people. So, as a reward and recompense for him, we bear what he committed to, from where do we bear it? From the zakah, even if he is wealthy. As for the debtor for himself in his personal needs, such as a man who bought a house to live in for five hundred thousand riyals, it is permissible to give him from the zakah to pay off his debt. Yes, because he is a debtor, but on the condition that he is poor and does not possess what is sufficient to pay off the debt. If he possesses what is sufficient to pay off the debt, then we do not give him from the zakah, because he is self-sufficient with what he has.