If one borrows a sum of money from someone, is zakah due on it?
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The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : I say, O Shaykh: If a person, for example, asks another for a sum of money as a loan, is zakah due on it, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. This debt, whether it is a loan, the price of a sale, rent for a house, or something else, if it is owed by a person of means, then its zakah is obligatory every year. You may pay its zakah along with your other wealth if you wish, or you may set the zakah aside, and when you receive the debt, you pay the zakah for the time that has passed.
As for if it is owed by a person who is unable to pay, or by a wrongdoer or oppressor from whom you cannot recover your right, then there is no zakah on it. However, when you receive it, even if it is after ten years, you pay zakah for one year, the year of receipt. This opinion is the stronger, middle position between two opinions: one opinion says there is no zakah if it is owed by a person unable to pay, so you do not pay zakah on it until you receive it and a year has passed; and the second opinion says there is zakah on it even if it is owed by a person unable to pay. The correct view is the detailed explanation we mentioned to you: if it is owed by a person of means from whom you can recover it, then its zakah is obligatory on you every year. If it is owed by a person unable to pay, or by someone you cannot demand it from, then there is no zakah on it, but when you receive it, you pay zakah for one year for the time that has passed.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : I say, O Shaykh: If a person, for example, asks another for a sum of money as a loan, is zakah due on it, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. This debt, whether it is a loan, the price of a sale, rent for a house, or something else, if it is owed by a person of means, then its zakah is obligatory every year. You may pay its zakah along with your other wealth if you wish, or you may set the zakah aside, and when you receive the debt, you pay the zakah for the time that has passed.
As for if it is owed by a person who is unable to pay, or by a wrongdoer or oppressor from whom you cannot recover your right, then there is no zakah on it. However, when you receive it, even if it is after ten years, you pay zakah for one year, the year of receipt. This opinion is the stronger, middle position between two opinions: one opinion says there is no zakah if it is owed by a person unable to pay, so you do not pay zakah on it until you receive it and a year has passed; and the second opinion says there is zakah on it even if it is owed by a person unable to pay. The correct view is the detailed explanation we mentioned to you: if it is owed by a person of means from whom you can recover it, then its zakah is obligatory on you every year. If it is owed by a person unable to pay, or by someone you cannot demand it from, then there is no zakah on it, but when you receive it, you pay zakah for one year for the time that has passed.