Gharimin
Gharimin means people weighed down by debt. They are the sixth of the eight groups who may receive Zakat. The test is whether someone can repay what they owe, not how much they owe. Zakat can be used to clear a debt they cannot settle themselves.
HAF distributes Zakat through its Zakat appeal.
What the Word Means
A single debtor is a gharim; several are gharimin.
The root carries the sense of loss and of being liable for something. It is the same root behind the Arabic word for a fine, and behind a word the Qur'an uses for a punishment that clings and will not let go.
That is not an accident of language. Debt is described as something that attaches itself to a person. Anyone who has lain awake over money owed will recognise the image.
Two Kinds of Debtor
The classical texts divide this category in two, and the second half surprises people.
Someone in debt for themselves. Rent, food, medical costs, a failed business. They borrowed to meet a genuine need and cannot now repay. This is the straightforward case and the one most people have in mind.
Someone who took on a debt for others. Classically this meant stepping in to settle a dispute between families - paying compensation out of your own pocket so that a feud ended. The Arabic term is hamalah.
Qabisah ibn Mukhariq came to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ having taken on exactly such a burden. He was told to wait until the charity funds came in, and that he would be given from them. The Prophet ﷺ then said that asking is permitted in only three cases: a person carrying a debt of this kind, until it is settled; a person whose property has been destroyed by disaster, until they can support themselves again; and a person struck by poverty, attested by three sound people from their community (Sahih Muslim 1044).
Here is the striking part. Someone in the second group may receive Zakat even if they are otherwise well off. They are not poor. They took on a burden to put something right, and the category exists so that doing so does not ruin them.
When a Debt Qualifies
Four conditions are usually listed.
The debt is real and owed to a person or institution, not a religious obligation. Unpaid Zakat or an outstanding Kaffarah are duties rather than debts in this sense.
It is due now, or falls due soon. Scholars differ over long-term debt that is years from being called in.
The person cannot repay it from what they have, after their basic needs are set aside. Someone with savings that would cover it does not qualify.
The debt was lawfully incurred. Money borrowed for something forbidden is disputed. Most scholars allow helping someone who has repented and is now trapped, on the view that leaving them in it serves nobody.
Debt in Britain
This category has become one of the more active areas of Zakat distribution in the UK, and for an obvious reason.
Credit card balances. Payday and short-term loans. Rent and council tax arrears. Buy-now-pay-later agreements that stacked up. Business debt after a failure. These are ordinary British financial problems, and someone drowning in them, unable to repay from what they have, falls squarely within this category.
Several UK charities now run domestic debt relief programmes funded from Zakat on this basis. If that is where you would like your Zakat to go, it is worth asking whether an organisation does this work.
The Interest Question
Most British debt carries interest, which raises an obvious difficulty.
The mainstream position is that a person in interest-bearing debt may still receive Zakat. They are in need; that is what the category turns on. Whether the borrowing was blameworthy is a separate matter between them and Allah, and particularly so where they have since repented. Refusing to help would punish them twice.
Where scholars differ is whether Zakat should cover the interest portion itself, or only the original sum borrowed. Some hold the whole balance may be cleared, since the aim is to free the person and leaving part of it behind leaves the trap in place. Others restrict it to the principal.
This is unsettled, and anyone distributing Zakat into UK debt relief needs an answer from a scholar rather than a rule of thumb.
Who Cannot Be Helped Under This Category
Someone who can repay. The test is inability, not inconvenience.
Someone whose debt is not yet due and who will be able to meet it when it is.
A person who has died owing money. Most scholars, including the Hanafi school, hold that Zakat cannot settle the debts of the deceased, because Zakat has to become the property of a living person who qualifies. Their debts are paid from their estate. Voluntary charity may be given on their behalf without any of this difficulty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if the person genuinely cannot repay it from what they have. The kind of debt does not disqualify them. A credit card run up on essentials and a loan taken to cover rent are the same thing as far as this category is concerned: money owed that cannot be found. Whether the interest portion is covered is the open question above.
Most scholars prefer it to reach the debtor, who then pays, because Zakat is generally required to pass into the recipient's ownership. Some permit paying a creditor directly with the debtor's consent, which comes to the same thing in practice. If you are giving through a charity, ask how they handle it.
Usually not. Someone living in a house they are paying off, managing the payments, is not a person in debt they cannot repay - they have a home and a plan. It changes if the payments have become impossible and repossession is in sight. The test is always the same: can this person meet what they owe?
Genuinely unsettled, and worth asking about rather than assuming. These loans are unusual: repayment depends on income, nothing is owed below a threshold, and the balance is written off after a set period. Some scholars have argued this makes them closer to a tax on earnings than to a debt. Others treat them as debt like any other. Nobody should take an answer to this from a web page.
Most scholars say no, for the reason given above - Zakat has to reach a living person who qualifies. The debt is settled from whatever they left behind, and if that does not cover it, their heirs or anyone else may pay it from ordinary charity. Doing so is a considerable kindness and nothing prevents it.
Debt in Britain
This category has become one of the more active areas of Zakat distribution in the UK, and for an obvious reason.
Credit card balances. Payday and short-term loans. Rent and council tax arrears. Buy-now-pay-later agreements that stacked up. Business debt after a failure. These are ordinary British financial problems, and someone drowning in them, unable to repay from what they have, falls squarely within this category.
Several UK charities now run domestic debt relief programmes funded from Zakat on this basis. If that is where you would like your Zakat to go, it is worth asking whether an organisation does this work.
Most British debt carries interest, which raises an obvious difficulty.
The mainstream position is that a person in interest-bearing debt may still receive Zakat. They are in need; that is what the category turns on. Whether the borrowing was blameworthy is a separate matter between them and Allah, and particularly so where they have since repented. Refusing to help would punish them twice.
Where scholars differ is whether Zakat should cover the interest portion itself, or only the original sum borrowed. Some hold the whole balance may be cleared, since the aim is to free the person and leaving part of it behind leaves the trap in place. Others restrict it to the principal.
This is unsettled, and anyone distributing Zakat into UK debt relief needs an answer from a scholar rather than a rule of thumb.
Someone who can repay. The test is inability, not inconvenience.
Someone whose debt is not yet due and who will be able to meet it when it is.
A person who has died owing money. Most scholars, including the Hanafi school, hold that Zakat cannot settle the debts of the deceased, because Zakat has to become the property of a living person who qualifies. Their debts are paid from their estate. Voluntary charity may be given on their behalf without any of this difficulty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if the person genuinely cannot repay it from what they have. The kind of debt does not disqualify them. A credit card run up on essentials and a loan taken to cover rent are the same thing as far as this category is concerned: money owed that cannot be found. Whether the interest portion is covered is the open question above.
Most scholars prefer it to reach the debtor, who then pays, because Zakat is generally required to pass into the recipient's ownership. Some permit paying a creditor directly with the debtor's consent, which comes to the same thing in practice. If you are giving through a charity, ask how they handle it.
Usually not. Someone living in a house they are paying off, managing the payments, is not a person in debt they cannot repay - they have a home and a plan. It changes if the payments have become impossible and repossession is in sight. The test is always the same: can this person meet what they owe?
Genuinely unsettled, and worth asking about rather than assuming. These loans are unusual: repayment depends on income, nothing is owed below a threshold, and the balance is written off after a set period. Some scholars have argued this makes them closer to a tax on earnings than to a debt. Others treat them as debt like any other. Nobody should take an answer to this from a web page.
Most scholars say no, for the reason given above - Zakat has to reach a living person who qualifies. The debt is settled from whatever they left behind, and if that does not cover it, their heirs or anyone else may pay it from ordinary charity. Doing so is a considerable kindness and nothing prevents it.