He owns shares, but is in debt. How should he pay zakaah?
Question I have asked for Islamic finance from the Al-rajihee Company, in order to buy shares and pay in monthly installments. The total amount to be paid to the Al-rajihee Company is about 99.000 Riyals. I have paid 20.000 so far, and currently I am dealing in pure (non-mixed) shares, via Al-Rajihi. How should I…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
The fuqaha’ differed with regard to debt: does it mean that
one does not have to pay zakaah? There are two well-known views, one of
which is that it does not mean that one does not have to pay zakaah, so if a
person possesses the nisaab (minimum amount of wealth at which zakaah
becomes due) and one full year has passed, then he must pay zakaah,
no matter what his debt is. This is the view of al-Shaafa’i (may Allaah have
mercy on him), and it is what is regarded as most correct by many of the
scholars.
That is because of the general meaning of the evidence which
indicates that zakaah is obligatory for everyone who owns the nisaab, and
because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) used to send
his workers to collect zakaah, and he did not tell them to enquire as to
whether the owners of the wealth had debts or not. And because zakaah has to
do with what one actually possesses, and debt is a commitment, so the one
does not rule out the other.
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Does debt
cancel out the obligation of zakaah? There are three opinions concerning
that, the most sound of which according to our companions, which is also the
view stated by al-Shaafa’i (may Allaah be pleased with him) in most of his
new books, is that it is obligatory… To sum up, our view is that zakaah is
obligatory, whether the wealth is hidden or apparent, and whether the wealth
is of the same type as the debt or not. Our companions said: whether it is a
debt owed to a human being or a debt owed to Allaah, such as previous
zakaah, expiation, vows and so on. End quote.
Al-Majmoo’, 5/317
Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: With
regard to the debt that he owes, it does not rule out zakaah according to
the soundest scholarly opinion. End quote.
Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz,
14/189
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (make Allaah have mercy on him) said:
What I think is more likely to be correct is that zakaah is obligatory in
all cases, even if a person has a debt which, if taken from a person’s
wealth, will cause it to fall below the nisaab, except a debt which came due
before the zakaah became due, in which case he must pay the debt, then pay
zakaah on what is left after that. End quote.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 6/39
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (9/189): The
correct scholarly view is that debt does not rule out zakaah. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him) used to send out his workers to
collect zakaah, and he did not tell them: Look and see whether the people
are in debt or not. End quote.
Based on that, you should look and see what wealth you have
after one year has passed since acquiring it, and pay zakaah on it, even if
your debt is greater or smaller than this money. But if you pay off the debt
or part of it before zakaah becomes due, then you do not have to pay zakaah
on that amount, only on what is left of the money.
Please see also the answer to question number
22426.
Secondly:
For information on zakaah on shares, please see the answer to question number 69912.
