A relative of mine bought a car on installment, and he has a salary that is sufficient for him and his family, but it is difficult for him to pay these installments, so I collected for him from the zakah, but I feared that
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The questioner : The questioner, Abu 'Abdullah, says: A relative of mine bought a car on installment, and he has a salary that is sufficient for him and his family, but it is difficult for him to pay these installments, so I collected for him from the zakah, but I feared that my action in this may contain something of the forbidden. What is obligatory for me to do now?
The Shaykh : If this man who has installments to pay is able to settle what he owes in installments with ease, then the zakah is not permissible for him, because the zakah is only for the poor, the needy, those employed to collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing captives, those in debt, in the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer. However, if he is unable to do so, and he does not have at his disposal anything of the necessities of the house except a small amount, such that the debt will remain on him for many years, then there is no harm in paying off his debt from the zakah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, His Eminence the Shaykh Muhammad.
The Shaykh : If this man who has installments to pay is able to settle what he owes in installments with ease, then the zakah is not permissible for him, because the zakah is only for the poor, the needy, those employed to collect it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, freeing captives, those in debt, in the cause of Allah, and the wayfarer. However, if he is unable to do so, and he does not have at his disposal anything of the necessities of the house except a small amount, such that the debt will remain on him for many years, then there is no harm in paying off his debt from the zakah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, His Eminence the Shaykh Muhammad.