The obligation of one who cannot marry due to financial inability

I have a letter from His Eminence the Shaykh, sent by one of our listening brothers. It says: Mansur Saleh from Riyadh. Our brother’s letter is long; its summary is that he is a twenty-two-year-old young man who complains of financial inability and also complains of the hardship of bachelorhood. He asks His Eminence the Shaykh for religious guidance in this regard.
Answer: There is no doubt that marriage is among the most important matters and among the best of acts of drawing near to Allah, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and Allah the Exalted says: [Al-Nur: 32]. In the authentic hadith, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says: .
The presenter: The first one, if you please?
The Shaykh: meaning: he intends chastity, so Allah will help him, Glorified and Exalted is He.
So my advice to this young questioner is to do the causes he is able to do in order to get married, either by borrowing or by taking on debt. He can buy something on a known term and sell it, and Allah will provide for him and he will get married; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .
And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to borrow, and he is the best of creation. He borrowed, and he died with a debt upon him, peace and blessings be upon him. So there is no harm in borrowing and no blame in borrowing, either by way of a loan or by way of buying necessities like a car or other things on a known term and then selling them for cash and getting married. There is no harm in that. Here we have a prescribed project, but it is a long one, a project of assistance for those getting married. And this has five conditions:
The first of them is that he must be a Saudi, and so must the fiancée.
The second is that he must be unable, with proof established by the court, that he is unable to provide maintenance for marriage, meaning unable to provide the mahr.
The third is that the contract must be completed between him and the woman’s family, but the consummation remains.
The fourth is that this must be his first marriage, or he may have married but his wife died. As for the divorced man, we do not have assistance for him.
The fifth is that it must be established that he is one who maintains the prayer in congregation, attested to by those who know him in his mosque.
So if the conditions are met, he is assisted with twenty-five thousand on the account of the benefactors. These are matters from the people of good, from the zakah of the people of good and their assistance. Twenty-five thousand if these five conditions are met, he is assisted with it, but it may be delayed; because many people are waiting now, they may reach the thousands, and the money is not much that comes for this project. So for this reason, it may be delayed five months... six months... until his turn comes, or more than that.
The presenter: A simple matter.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The presenter: Six months is nothing.
The Shaykh: So if he sees that he should apply for this project and fulfill these conditions, there is no harm. Perhaps Allah will make his affair easy for him. And if he borrows or takes a loan so that it is faster, that is better, if Allah wills. And he has the glad tidings that Allah will make his affair easy and pay off his debt; because marriage is a righteous deed in which there is chastity of the private parts, lowering of the gaze, and causing the chastity of a woman also, and lowering of her gaze and preserving of her private parts, and also causing the existence of children and increasing the ummah, so in it are benefits. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah bless you. Perhaps many of the benefactors would like to contribute to this charitable project, but the announcement about it is slow, or the address is not known, or something like that. Perhaps it would be appropriate for His Eminence the Shaykh to mention this?
The Shaykh: I call upon my Muslim brothers in the Kingdom and elsewhere to help in this project from zakah and other means. And we have written about that many times. And the usual thing is that we also write at the end of Sha'ban, because many people only give zakah in Ramadan.
So the result is that we have written about this many times, and we will write, if Allah wills, in these days also, and also upon the entry of Ramadan, if Allah wills. But I call upon whoever hears this word, I call upon them to participate in this project; because in it is assistance for many young men to get married while they are unable. So I call upon all my brothers who hear this word to participate in this project, either from zakah or from other means, and Allah will reward them and recompense them, Glorified and Exalted is He.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. Is it permissible from zakah also?
Yes... Yes; because what we give is only to those in need. We do not assist except those in need, with that being established at the court.
The presenter: So they are poor...
The Shaykh: Yes, they are poor and deserving.
The presenter: May Allah bless you. Perhaps it would be appropriate for you to mention the address, His Eminence the Shaykh, for whoever wants to send their donation to this project?
The Shaykh: The address is the Dar al-Ifta, in my name, Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz, Dar al-Ifta - Riyadh.