The Ruling on Zakah on a Debt

Q: I have a debt owed to me by one of the brothers. Is it obligatory for me to pay its zakah? Or is there a specific time for that?

A: If the debt you have is with people who are wealthy and generous, such that they will give you your right whenever you ask, then you must pay its zakah every time a lunar year passes over it, as if it were in your possession and with them as a trust. However, if the one who owes the debt is unable to pay it, or if he is not unable but is delaying payment and you cannot collect it from him, then the correct opinion among the scholars is that you are not obligated to pay zakah on it until you collect it from this delayer or the one who is unable. Once you collect it, you start a new lunar year with it and pay the zakah after the completion of the lunar year from the time of your collection. If you pay zakah for one of the previous years while it was with the one who is unable or the delayer, there is no harm in that, as some scholars have said. However, you are only obligated to do so in the future, once you have collected the money from the one who is unable or the delayer, started a new lunar year with it, and the lunar year has passed over it; then the zakah becomes obligatory. This is the preferred opinion.