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Is a widowed woman, who pays Zakat, obligated to pay Zakat on a sum of 6,000 dinars loaned to relatives, even though she does not own a house and lives with her family, and wishes to build her own house?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If the salary paid to the deceased's wife and children is part of the deceased's estate, then the inheritance is divided as follows: the wife receives one-eighth, and the remainder is for the son and daughter, with the male receiving the share of two females. Zakat is obligatory upon every heir whose share reaches the nisab (minimum threshold) and upon which a hawl (full lunar year) has passed. As for the money that is a debt owed by the woman's relatives, if the debtor is solvent and acknowledges the debt, then zakat is paid on it every year, provided it reaches the nisab and a full hawl has passed. However, it is not obligatory to pay the zakat until it is collected. If the debtor is insolvent, zakat is paid on it for one year after its collection. It is not permissible for the deceased's wife to give charity except from her own personal wealth. It is forbidden for her to give charity from the orphans' money. Her lack of ownership of a dwelling does not exempt her from the obligation of zakat if it becomes due upon her.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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