Can money owed to me be forgivin and be considered as zakat el mal?

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Salam,

Someone whose having a tough time these days financially is having a hard time paying me back money owed to me.Can this money be subtracted from my zakat el mal if it is forgivin? This money is due to me from inhertance.
 
2 options


1. Forgive the debt
2. If the debt is over a year and there is a hope you will get the money back then there is zakat to be paid on it assuming it is over the amount upon what zakat is due.

And Allah knows Best
 
scented blood said:
2 options

2. If the debt is over a year and there is a hope you will get the money back then there is zakat to be paid on it assuming it is over the amount upon what zakat is due.
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I thought we don't have to pay zakat unless the money/wealth is in our possession? That is, we don't have to pay zakat over any money that is still owed by somebody to us.

Anyway, zakat can be given to anyone to pay off their debts, so yes, you can make niah to forgive the debt and consider it as zakat maal to the person who owe you money.
 
According to the website http://www.islam21c.com/

7. What should be given?
Zakah al-Fitr should be given as staple food of the country in which one resides. Hence it is possible that it be given as rice in some countries and flour or wheat in others etc. It is also possible to give it as modern day food items, provided that the food can be stored, such as pasta. The proof for this is the hadith of Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri who said, ‘We would give zakah al-Fitr as a sa‘ of food, or a sa‘ of barley, or a sa‘ of dates, or a sa‘ of dry cheese, or a sa‘ of raisins.'
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9. Can the monetary value of food be given as Zakah al-Fitr?
The majority of scholars say that this is not permissible whereas the Hanafis say that it is. It is best for a person to not give its monetary value but give it as food because this is what the texts specify. Moreover, the specific reasoning of the text further proves that this is what should be given. Therefore, it is not possible to exercise ijtihad on this issue by claiming that one is looking to the reasoning behind the ruling. Furthermore, Zakah al-Fitr is a very specific form of Zakah and one cannot make an analogy between it and the Zakah of one's wealth and property: its source is different, the ones upon whom it is obligatory are different and its timing is different. As such, it cannot be said that it has the same purpose and can be associated to it in this manner.
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Ramadhan said:
I thought we don't have to pay zakat unless the money/wealth is in our possession? That is, we don't have to pay zakat over any money that is still owed by somebody to us.
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You definitely have to pay Zakaat on what is owed to you. Otherwise you could just loan out all your wealth and evade Zakaat.

Anyway, zakat can be given to anyone to pay off their debts, so yes, you can make niah to forgive the debt and consider it as zakat maal to the person who owe you money.
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You can forgive the debt, and it is better for you if you know the person us struggling, but I'm not sure it counts as discharging Zakaat, because if the person doesn't have it in his possession any longer than it doesn't fullfil the condition that the faqeer must have ownership of the money at the time you change your intention to it being Zakaat. And if he does have it, he can pay you back so isn't struggling. I'm not sure about this though.
 
I think these are very subtle and important issues. It is better to turn to a good scholar in their case.
 

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