Is zakah obligatory on one who has a debt, given that his wealth has reached the nisab?

The questioner : There are two questions about zakah. The first question is about a person who has 200 grams of gold, and the hawl (lunar year of possession) for them ends, for example, at the end of Ramadan. He became liable for a debt of 300 dinars before Ramadan, but he did not sell the 200 grams of gold so as not to incur a loss, because the price was low, so he postponed the sale of the 200 grams until after Ramadan. Now, is zakah obligatory on him for the 200 grams because the hawl has completed and they are in his possession? Or is zakah obligatory on him excluding the 300 dinars?

The Shaykh : He does not exclude anything, as long as the amount to be excluded remains in his possession and ownership, such that if his term were to arrive and his heirs were to inherit it, this wealth would pass to the heirs. Therefore, one of two things is necessary: either he hastens to pay off his debt, with the intention of not circumventing zakah, and in that case, as a natural result of paying his debt, the nisab decreases and zakah is not obligatory on him; or, if he has not done any of that, and this wealth remains with its full nisab, and the hawl has completed over it entirely, then he must pay zakah from this wealth that is in his possession.

The questioner : Now, the second question.