Fatwaa ID: 868

Question:
I heard that if someone has given a loan to another and he is not paying it back then it can be counted zakat for the future year. Is this true?

Answer:
In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salaamu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullaahi wa-barakaatuh.

That is not true. You cannot write off a debt owed to you as zakaah. Rather, you, the creditor, must pay zakaah on the loaned amount. You may pay zakaah annually or once you receive the money back, in which case you will backdate it for the previous years. However, if you lose hope of getting the loaned money back, then you do not have to pay zakaah on that unless you ever receive it. In that case, you will pay for that year only; you do not have to backdate it.

And Allaah Ta’aala knows best.
Mufti Muajul I. Chowdhury
Darul Iftaa New York
https://askthemufti.us/

08/24/1444 AH – 03/16/2023 CE | AML1-7332

وصل اللهم وسلم وبارك على سيدنا محمد وعلى ءاله وصحبه أجمعين

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