If you stick to the repayment plan, the person that you are in debt to has no right to stop you from spending the rest of your wealth. Hence, you can use the rest of your wealth to eat, drink, give charity and give gifts, as long as it does not stop you from repaying the debt. However, if spending from the rest of your money causes you problems in repaying the debt, or if it leads you to being unable to repay it, then you are not allowed to give in charity from it. Some scholars have said that if you have a debt or a loan that you need to immediately repay, or the like, there is no harm if you spend a small amount of money that does not affect the repayment. For example, if someone has a debt of 100,000, there is no harm in giving a poor person 5 or 10 in charity, since this does not affect the debt, because even if you were to give it to the person you owe the 100,00, he would not accept it since it is negligible. In any case, a person in debt cannot spend his money if that would cause delays to his repayments, which the person he owes the money to would not allow. However, if the question is about a person who owes 100,000, and if for example he pays back 3,000 every month while his monthly salary is 10,000, he can use the remaining 7,000 each month in whatever Allaah the Majestic, the High has allowed or recommended, as long as this does not cause problems to the repayments and the needs and expenses of the people he owes the money to.
Question
I have a debt, which I can pay off in installments from my monthly salary. Sometimes I am asked by charities to give some money. Is it allowed for me to help in their projects, and hence hope to be rewarded on the Day of Resurrection, even though I have the kind of debt that I have described?
Answer