The effect of debt to the amount of nisab in the ahkam of zakat

Zakat, as a financial worship, is considered one of the five fundamental principles of Islam. There are some conditions for the obligation of zakah upon the mukallaf and the property. One of these conditions is related to the property: to have an amount of property which reaches nisab except the essential needs. A person who has the amount of nisab, however, when he is indebted, that whether he reduces his debts from the amount of nisab or not is a matter of dispute among scholars. In this study, we deal with this issue in details by taking into accountt he approaches of the classical and modern scholars and we try to solve the probable problem arising from the effect of debts for calculating the amount of nisab. Key Words: Zakat, debt, nisab al-zakat, accelerated, deferred, al-amwal al-zâhira, al-amwal al-bâtına.