he is liable for one thousand riyals less twenty-five riyals, because only thirty-nine thousand remain as a debt owed by him. Thus, with each passing year, the zakat due from him decreases.

If we hold that zakat is not due on a debt owed by an insolvent person, then no zakat is due at all unless he becomes solvent at the end of the year.

And we hold that when a creditor receives a debt from an insolvent debtor, he pays its zakat for one year. Thus, in this case, if the debtor becomes solvent with respect to all but one thousand riyals of a debt totalling forty thousand, and the creditor says, “I wish to waive the thousand riyals that you owe and are unable to pay, intending it as zakat from the debt you owe,” we may say that this is permissible. Yet there remains some reservation about it, because the creditor has now received the debt itself—thirty-nine thousand riyals of it—in cash, while zakat is not due on the remaining thousand owed by the debtor, since he is insolvent.

The correct view regarding zakat on a debt owed by an insolvent person is that no zakat is due on such a debt unless the creditor receives it; if he receives it, he pays zakat on it for one year only.

The seventh: In the cause of Allah—that is, volunteer fighters who are not registered on the military payroll.

His statement, “The seventh: in the cause of Allah”: sabīl means “path.” Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Say, ‘This is my way.’” [Joseph 12:108]

And He says:

“Pilgrimage to this House is an obligation by Allah upon whoever is able to find a way to it.” [Āl ʿImrān 3:97]

“In the cause of Allah” is used in the Quran with two meanings:

The first is a general meaning: every path that leads to Allah. It therefore includes all righteous deeds, as in His saying:

“The example of those who spend their wealth in the cause of Allah...” [al-Baqarah 2:261]

And as in His saying:

“Call to the way of your Lord...” [al-Naḥl 16:125]

That is, to His religion.