because debt is a source of humiliation, as it is said: “Debt is anxiety by night and humiliation by day.”

Secondly, the Prophet ﷺ would not settle the debts of the deceased from zakat. When a deceased person who owed a debt was brought to him, he would ask: “Has he left enough to repay it?” If he had not, he would not perform the funeral prayer over him; but if they said, “He has left enough to repay it,” he would pray over him. (1)

Then, when Allah granted him conquest and wealth became abundant at his disposal, he began settling the debts of the deceased from what Allah had granted him. Had settling the deceased’s debt from zakat been permissible, he ﷺ would have done so.

Thirdly, if this door were opened, the repayment of the debts of many living people would be neglected, since people customarily show greater sympathy for the deceased than for the living. Yet the living are more entitled to having their debts settled than the deceased.

Fourthly, if the deceased took people’s wealth intending to repay it, Allah will repay it on his behalf; but if he intended to destroy it, then Allah has destroyed him and did not facilitate the repayment of his debt.

Fifthly, the deceased person’s liability has ceased with his death; thus, he is no longer described as a debtor.

Sixthly, opening this door would open the way to greed and avarice on the part of the heirs: they might conceal the deceased’s wealth and say, “He was indebted.”

Issue: Releasing an insolvent debtor from his debt with the intention that it count as zakat.

The case is as follows: A man is owed one thousand riyals by an insolvent debtor, while he himself owes one thousand riyals in zakat. Is it permissible for the creditor to waive the one thousand riyals owed by the debtor, intending it as zakat?