A poor man with debts: Is zakat al-fitr obligatory upon him?

The questioner : Regarding the alms of fitr, a man who is in debt.

The Shaykh : A man?

The questioner : In debt.

The Shaykh : In debt.

The questioner : I mean, he was spending on his family from debt. Is the alms of fitr obligatory upon him?

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. This relates to the general principle when He says: And the Messenger confirms that by saying: This man, either he feels that he is able, or he is not able. The fact that he is in debt and that he is a provider does not mean that he is not able. He is the one who judges whether he is able or not. Perhaps a person took out a loan for a secondary matter, and he will be able to pay off this loan, little by little, and he is a worker, working in a profession or a job or something similar. So, for example, I bring this close as an approximation: for such a person, it is not difficult to borrow a few dinars to pay the zakat al-fitr. If we imagine a person today who does not have a few dinars in his pocket or in his house’s box, if we imagine this tightness, and I strongly consider this unlikely in the present age, then he can borrow. And this is, of course, if he is capable of repayment. However, I imagine another thing: such a person, assuming he is poor and following this assumption, has another assumption, which is that charities will come to him. If charities come to him, he will be able to pay from them. If he does not find in his pocket what to buy with to give in charity, the matter does not have that great difficulty. In any case, the principle is: Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear.