Continuation of the Shaykh's speech regarding zakah and the issue: If a person has wealth and has a debt equal to the amount of wealth he has, is zakah obligatory upon him or not?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : O my brothers, in the previous lesson we spoke about some of the rulings of zakah, and we spoke about some of the rulings of zakah, including: if a person has wealth and has a debt equal to the amount of wealth he has, what is the case? Is zakah obligatory upon him or not? Is zakah obligatory upon him or is it not obligatory upon him?
The questioner : It is obligatory.
The Shaykh : Zakah is obligatory upon him, meaning a man owns ten thousand riyals and he has ten thousand riyals in debt.
The questioner : Zakah is obligatory upon him.
The Shaykh : Zakah is obligatory upon him, yes.
The questioner : And he is given from the zakah.
The Shaykh : Zakah is obligatory upon him and he is given from the zakah to pay off the debt. Is there another opinion that says otherwise?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Meaning, there is another opinion that says: it is deducted by the amount of the zakah, so he does not pay zakah on it.
The questioner : By the amount of the debt.
The Shaykh : It is deducted from the zakah by the amount of the debt, so he does not pay zakah on it. So if he has ten thousand riyals and he has eight thousand riyals in debt, he does not pay zakah except on two thousand only. Is there a third opinion?
The questioner : If it is from the hidden wealth, then Allah knows best, he does not pay zakah. And if it is from the visible wealth, he pays zakah. The visible wealth is grains, livestock, and fruits, and the hidden wealth.
The Shaykh : There is a third opinion that says: if the zakatable wealth is from the visible wealth, the debt is not deducted. And if it is from the hidden wealth, it is deducted. The visible wealth is livestock, grains, and fruits, and the hidden wealth is gold, silver, and trade goods.
The questioner : It is obligatory.
The Shaykh : Zakah is obligatory upon him, meaning a man owns ten thousand riyals and he has ten thousand riyals in debt.
The questioner : Zakah is obligatory upon him.
The Shaykh : Zakah is obligatory upon him, yes.
The questioner : And he is given from the zakah.
The Shaykh : Zakah is obligatory upon him and he is given from the zakah to pay off the debt. Is there another opinion that says otherwise?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Meaning, there is another opinion that says: it is deducted by the amount of the zakah, so he does not pay zakah on it.
The questioner : By the amount of the debt.
The Shaykh : It is deducted from the zakah by the amount of the debt, so he does not pay zakah on it. So if he has ten thousand riyals and he has eight thousand riyals in debt, he does not pay zakah except on two thousand only. Is there a third opinion?
The questioner : If it is from the hidden wealth, then Allah knows best, he does not pay zakah. And if it is from the visible wealth, he pays zakah. The visible wealth is grains, livestock, and fruits, and the hidden wealth.
The Shaykh : There is a third opinion that says: if the zakatable wealth is from the visible wealth, the debt is not deducted. And if it is from the hidden wealth, it is deducted. The visible wealth is livestock, grains, and fruits, and the hidden wealth is gold, silver, and trade goods.