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Do You Have to Pay Zakat on Owed Debts?

Q: Is it necessary upon a person to discharge the zakaat of those monies (debts) which are owed to him?

A: There are few types of debts:

  • Dain-e-Qawi: That debt which is owed to one in exchange of goods sold or monies loaned. The law of this type is that zakaat is waajib upon these debts provided it reaches the nisaab.
  • Dain-e-Mutawassit: Those debts which are owed to a person in exchange of any goods which were not purchased with the intention of resale. E.g. a personal car or furniture when sold for cash. The law of this type is that zakaat is only waajib upon the debt when received provided it reaches the nisaab and one year passes over it. Zakaat is not waajib on the debt for the previous years.
  • Dain-e-Daeef: Those debts which are not in exchange of wealth e.g. mahr or monies owed in lieu of service provided. The law of this type is the same as the one above (Dain-e-Mutawassit) i.e. Zakaat is only waajib upon the debt when received provided it reaches the nisaab and one year passes over it. Zakaat is not waajib on the debt for the previous years.

( و ) اعلم أن الديون عند الإمام ثلاثة قوي ومتوسط وضعيف (فتجب ) زكاتها إذا تم نصابا وحال الحول لكن لا فورا بل ( عند قبض أربعين درهما من الدين ) القوي كقرض ( وبدل مال تجارة ) فكلما قبض أربعين درهما يلزمه درهم ( و ) عند قبض ( مائتين منه لغيرها ) أي من بدل مال لغير تجارة وهو المتوسط كثمن سائمة وعبيد خدمة ونحوهما مما هو مشغول بحوائجه الأصلية كطعام وشراب وأملاك ويعتبر ما مضى من الحول قبل القبض في الأصح ومثله ما لو ورث دينا على رجل ( و ) عند قبض ( مائتين مع حولان الحول بعده ) أي بعد القبض ( من ) دين ضعيف وهو ( بدل غير مال ) كمهر ودية وبدل كتابة وخلع

قوله ( في الأصح ) قد علمت أنه ظاهر الرواية وعبارة الفتح و البحر في صحيح الرواية قلت لكن قال في البدائع إن رواية ابن سماعة أنه لا زكاة فيه حتى يقبض المائتين ويحول الحول من وقت القبض هي الأصح من الروايتين عن أبي حنيفة اهـ ومثله في غاية البيان وعليه فحكمه حكم الدين الضعيف الآتي (شامي 2/305)

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)

This answer was collected from MuftiOnline.co.za, where the questions have been answered by Mufti Zakaria Makada (Hafizahullah), who is currently a senior lecturer in the science of Hadith and Fiqh at Madrasah Ta’leemuddeen, Isipingo Beach, South Africa.

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