Paying zakat to a person with house loan

[PakSwed]

Assalamu aleikum

I have a brother that has a house loan (with riba :/). Will he fall into the category of a person in debt (Gharimin) that is eligable to recieve zakat?

Two things to take into consideration:

- He can fullfill all his needs with his current salary and pays back some of the loan every month, but he doesn't have money to pay back all at ounce.

- In theory it would be possible for him to sell the house, pay back the loan, and rent an apartment, but he chooses to not do so.

[abuhajira]

Eligibility of receiving zakat is possession of zakatable assets equal to nisab. If he does not have nisab amount of nett assets, then he can receive zakat. Use the same table which has been posted before to get a sample calculation for nett savings.

As for the calculation purpose, he will use this loan as his liability.

Also advise your brother to make concerted effort to pay out the interest bearing loan as soon as possible. No sooner does interest seep into ones wealth, and it corrupts and destroys all the barakah from the life. As soon as he will make effort to remove the interest, inshAllah Allah's mercy will descend in all his dealings.

Wallahu A'lam

[PakSwed]

Jazakallah kheir