A man has real estate and land and owes a debt; is it permissible to give him from the zakah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : There is a man who, may Allah will it, has properties in the form of land and real estate, but he is burdened with debt. Is the zakah valid for him?
The Shaykh : Strange! And why does he not sell from these properties to pay off the debt he owes?
The questioner : Must he sell?
The Shaykh : It is necessary.
The questioner : And if this matter is not feasible.
The Shaykh : And what is your opinion if the value of the properties is billions, and you ask if it is permissible to give him our wealth's zakah on the basis that he is poor? Do you ask?
The questioner : In truth, you have exaggerated in this matter. Let us make it a general question.
The Shaykh : I, like your story, have exaggerated, because things become clear by their opposites.
The questioner : Let us say this person's properties do not amount to capital... and he is burdened with debt. For example, if he were given zakah on the basis that with the least amount he could pay off his debt—a legal debt, of course—he got married and it attached to him, furniture, circumstances, and calamities.
The Shaykh : Stay in your place, you Nabulsi, stay there, you have not changed anything.
The questioner : It is, it is.
The Shaykh : But you changed the words, because I am now going to ask you. Suppose, how much debt does this man have? Give any number that suits you, not me. Give any number, how much debt does he have?
The questioner : We said two thousand.
The Shaykh : Two thousand, what are the properties he has?
The questioner : At worst, they are valued at fifty thousand or more.
The Shaykh : So, in your opinion, is he rich or poor?
The questioner : Rich, in truth.
The Shaykh : This is the truth, and therefore you have not benefited anything. When you repeated the question, he must sell from the properties to pay the rights of people with them, and it is not permissible to give him charity because he is not poor. And you know today that among the skill of merchants is that they do not keep liquidity; rather, they convert it to what?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : As evidence, some of the major merchants do not see it in the interest of trade to own a house to live in, but they see it in the interest of trade to rent a house instead of buying a house for fifty thousand or forty thousand. They put the fifty thousand in the market and buy goods, and the profits multiply for them, and they are content to pay, for example, ten thousand or twenty thousand each year, depending on the house that suits them. Why? Because they are a group of two, experts in how the pie is eaten and how profits are gathered. And so, these people, by their method, do not have one among them who has in his safe a nisab that a lunar year passes over, but he puts dozens of people who have dozens of nisabs in his pocket and does not feel it.
The questioner : Now, let us stay in this same context. This person I am talking about has a wife, and this wife, of course, her brother is the one who wants to give his zakah for her sake, of course, and for her husband's sake.
The Shaykh : He gives the zakah to whom?
The questioner : He gives it to his rich husband.
The Shaykh : To the rich man's wife or to the husband?
The questioner : To the husband.
The Shaykh : May Allah guide you, but what does this loop and turn mean? I am afraid people will learn from you. What is the difference between this question and that question?
The questioner : I remembered that he has some remnants.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good, and you did not take the answer.
The questioner : I took it, it is clear.
The Shaykh : Yes, bring another one.
The Shaykh : Strange! And why does he not sell from these properties to pay off the debt he owes?
The questioner : Must he sell?
The Shaykh : It is necessary.
The questioner : And if this matter is not feasible.
The Shaykh : And what is your opinion if the value of the properties is billions, and you ask if it is permissible to give him our wealth's zakah on the basis that he is poor? Do you ask?
The questioner : In truth, you have exaggerated in this matter. Let us make it a general question.
The Shaykh : I, like your story, have exaggerated, because things become clear by their opposites.
The questioner : Let us say this person's properties do not amount to capital... and he is burdened with debt. For example, if he were given zakah on the basis that with the least amount he could pay off his debt—a legal debt, of course—he got married and it attached to him, furniture, circumstances, and calamities.
The Shaykh : Stay in your place, you Nabulsi, stay there, you have not changed anything.
The questioner : It is, it is.
The Shaykh : But you changed the words, because I am now going to ask you. Suppose, how much debt does this man have? Give any number that suits you, not me. Give any number, how much debt does he have?
The questioner : We said two thousand.
The Shaykh : Two thousand, what are the properties he has?
The questioner : At worst, they are valued at fifty thousand or more.
The Shaykh : So, in your opinion, is he rich or poor?
The questioner : Rich, in truth.
The Shaykh : This is the truth, and therefore you have not benefited anything. When you repeated the question, he must sell from the properties to pay the rights of people with them, and it is not permissible to give him charity because he is not poor. And you know today that among the skill of merchants is that they do not keep liquidity; rather, they convert it to what?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : As evidence, some of the major merchants do not see it in the interest of trade to own a house to live in, but they see it in the interest of trade to rent a house instead of buying a house for fifty thousand or forty thousand. They put the fifty thousand in the market and buy goods, and the profits multiply for them, and they are content to pay, for example, ten thousand or twenty thousand each year, depending on the house that suits them. Why? Because they are a group of two, experts in how the pie is eaten and how profits are gathered. And so, these people, by their method, do not have one among them who has in his safe a nisab that a lunar year passes over, but he puts dozens of people who have dozens of nisabs in his pocket and does not feel it.
The questioner : Now, let us stay in this same context. This person I am talking about has a wife, and this wife, of course, her brother is the one who wants to give his zakah for her sake, of course, and for her husband's sake.
The Shaykh : He gives the zakah to whom?
The questioner : He gives it to his rich husband.
The Shaykh : To the rich man's wife or to the husband?
The questioner : To the husband.
The Shaykh : May Allah guide you, but what does this loop and turn mean? I am afraid people will learn from you. What is the difference between this question and that question?
The questioner : I remembered that he has some remnants.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good, and you did not take the answer.
The questioner : I took it, it is clear.
The Shaykh : Yes, bring another one.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.