at its second conference session, held in Jeddah from 10–16 Rabiʿ al-Thani 1406 AH (22–28 December 1985 CE).

After examining the papers submitted on “Zakah on Debts,” and following an extensive discussion that approached the subject from every angle, the Council reached the following conclusions:

1. No explicit text in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ sets out detailed rulings on zakah of debts.
2. Varied opinions have been transmitted from the Companions and the Successors—may Allah be pleased with them—on the manner of paying zakah on debts.
3. The Islamic schools of law have, therefore, adopted markedly different positions.
4. The divergence is rooted in the juristic maxim: “Does wealth that one is able to recover take the same ruling as wealth already in one’s possession?”

Accordingly, the Council resolved:

1. The creditor must pay zakah on the debt each year if the debtor is solvent and willing to pay.
2. If the debtor is insolvent or procrastinating, the creditor pays zakah only after one full lunar year has elapsed from the day he actually receives the money. End of resolution. Allah knows best.

Fourth: No zakah is due on a waqf established for unspecified beneficiaries—such as mosques, hostels, or the poor. Zakah is obligatory, however, on a waqf designated for specific individuals, like one’s children, provided each beneficiary’s share reaches the nisab.

Fifth:
The scholars differ over the point at which zakah was first imposed. The most persuasive view is that it was legislated in stages, over three phases:

1. A general obligation without any quantitative limits or detailed rulings—merely a command to give, to feed others, and to show kindness—and this occurred before the Hijrah, as the Almighty says in a Makkan surah