Issue: If I have wealth subject to zakah and I have a poor debtor whom I am pursuing, is it permissible for me to forgive his debt and count it as my zakah?

The Shaykh : If I have wealth subject to zakah and I have a poor debtor whom I am pursuing, is it permissible for me to forgive his debt and count it as my zakah?
The answer is no, because zakah is giving and bestowing, not forgiving. If, for example, I have forty thousand and I am pursuing this poor man for one thousand riyals, and I have forty thousand, how much is my zakah? I am pursuing this poor man for one thousand riyals. If I forgive the thousand from the poor man, does it suffice for my zakah? No, I must give my zakah, and it is not permissible for a person to forgive a debt he has on a poor man and consider it as his zakah, because forgiving a debt as zakah is considered choosing the bad to get rid of the good. And Allah Mighty and Majestic said: Because every person knows the difference between money in his hand, which he can dispose of as he wishes, and a debt he has on a poor man, which may or may not be paid.