What is the ruling on the zakah of debts, with details? That is, if a person has a debt owed to him by another and a lunar year has passed over it, does he have to pay zakah on it?

Abd al-Malik Ramadan recited the sermon of necessity,
Abd al-Malik: What is the ruling on the zakah of debts? That is, if a person has a debt owed to him by another, does he have to pay zakah on it? Please provide details regarding the evidence. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : First, as far as we know, there are no specific pieces of evidence that answer this question. Rather, it falls under general evidence that is not hidden from those present. It is known to all scholars that any wealth does not become subject to obligatory alms (zakah) unless two conditions are met: one is that it reaches the minimum threshold (nisab), and the other is... yes? Shall we not answer the phone? One is that it reaches the minimum threshold (nisab), and the other is that a lunar year of possession (hawl) passes over it. Some contemporary writers, who have no notable knowledge of the jurisprudence of the Book or the jurisprudence of the Sunnah, have cast doubt on this second condition. They only deal with issues that arise based on the jurisprudential opinions of the schools of thought, taking from each school, or from each opinion in any school, what seems to them to be the stronger position rationally rather than based on transmitted evidence. On this basis, we say that any wealth in which these two conditions are present becomes subject to the obligation of zakah. So, a man who lends, for example, one thousand dinars to his Muslim brother as a benevolent loan; this wealth has only temporarily left his possession. Therefore, in this regard, we see the division mentioned by some jurists, including the Hanafis, when they made the debt into two categories: one is a "living" debt and the other is a "dead" debt. By this, they mean that the living debt is one from which the creditor has not despaired of its return, and conversely, the dead debt is one from which its owner has despaired of its return. For the first type, the living debt, it is obligatory for its owner to pay its zakah, no matter how long the period of its return takes. As for the other, it is not obligatory for him to pay zakah unless Allah the Exalted revives it and he possesses it; at that time, he pays the zakah for the years that have passed. This is what many scholars say, especially the Hanafis. And I add to what has become clear to me from jurisprudence that the creditor of the wealth owns the wealth, because, as I said earlier, it has not left his possession in the first place. Then, he owns a reward with Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, which the owner of the wealth who is still in possession of it and has not lent it as a benevolent loan does not own.