Zakat While Carrying a Home Loan

Short answer: No exemption. Despite a long-term loan, zakat remains obligatory on nisab-level savings in hand — the weightier evidence-based position. At most, the imminently due installment may be deducted; deducting the whole 20–30-year balance would mean the visibly wealthy never pay zakat at all. Details: The house itself, being your residence, carries no zakat. The debt-versus-savings question is detailed in the related fatwa — in the Prophet's ﷺ practice zakat was collected from apparent wealth. Remember: an interest-based mortgage is riba and haram to contract; if taken, repent and exit it as fast as possible — but that sin does not suspend the zakat obligation; rather zakat purifies wealth. Evidence: Quran 9:103; Quran 2:275, 2:278-279 and Sahih Muslim 1598 (riba); Shaykh al-Uthaymin: 'The debtor who holds nisab pays zakat' (Majmuʿ Fatawa, Zakat). For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.