Is it permissible for someone who has zakat and has not handed it directly to the poor and deserving person to pay off their debt with their knowledge?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
It is permissible for a debtor who is unable to repay his debt to take to settle his debt, provided that his debt was incurred for a permissible matter, because he falls under the category of gharimin (those in debt). If the debtor authorizes you to pay off his debt from zakat, then there is no objection. However, paying off a debtor's debt without his permission is a matter of scholarly disagreement regarding its sufficiency for zakat.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/118161
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 118161
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy