6. Those in Debt

﷽

The sixth is: those who are in debt .

The scholars divided debt into two categories:

Debts incurred to bring about reconciliation, and debts incurred because of need.

With regard to debts incurred to bring about reconciliation, they gave the example of a case where there is a dispute, conflict or war between two tribes, and a man of good will, standing and honour comes and reconciles between these two tribes, incurring expenses for which he takes responsibility. So we should give this man money from zakah, in appreciation of his great effort which has put an end to enmity and hostility and bloodshed among believers. He should be given zakah regardless of whether he is rich or poor, because we are not giving it because he is in need, rather we are giving it because he has brought about reconciliation, which serves the common interest.
The second category of debtors is the one who is in debt on his own account, who took a loan either to meet his own needs or purchase something that he needs, and he did not have money. His debt may be paid off from zakah funds so long as he does not have any wealth that could be used to pay off the debt.

The question here is: is it better for us to give the zakah wealth to the debtor to pay off his debt, or to go to his lender and pay it off on his behalf?

It depends. If the debtor is keen to pay off his debt, and he can be trusted to use what he is given to pay off the debt, then we give it to him so that he may pay off his debt himself, because this is more concealing and is less likely to embarrass him in front of the people who are asking him to pay off the debt.

But if he is a careless man who wastes money, and if we give him money to pay off his debt he will go and buy things that he does not need, then we should not give it to him, rather we should go to the lender and say to him: How much does So and So owe you?” then we should give him the money or some of it, depending on what we can afford.

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﷽

The sixth is: those who are in debt .

The scholars divided debt into two categories:

Debts incurred to bring about reconciliation, and debts incurred because of need.

With regard to debts incurred to bring about reconciliation, they gave the example of a case where there is a dispute, conflict or war between two tribes, and a man of good will, standing and honour comes and reconciles between these two tribes, incurring expenses for which he takes responsibility. So we should give this man money from zakah, in appreciation of his great effort which has put an end to enmity and hostility and bloodshed among believers. He should be given zakah regardless of whether he is rich or poor, because we are not giving it because he is in need, rather we are giving it because he has brought about reconciliation, which serves the common interest.

The second category of debtors is the one who is in debt on his own account, who took a loan either to meet his own needs or purchase something that he needs, and he did not have money. His debt may be paid off from zakah funds so long as he does not have any wealth that could be used to pay off the debt.

The question here is: is it better for us to give the zakah wealth to the debtor to pay off his debt, or to go to his lender and pay it off on his behalf?