Delaying the Disbursement of Zakah Funds and Investing Them
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Q4: There are surplus amounts of zakah that are not fully disbursed within the year, and a lunar year passes over them. It is known that these amounts are not frozen, but are invested along with the company's other funds. How should this surplus be handled, and is it necessary to disburse only the principal of the surplus as zakah, or must the surplus and the profits it generates also be disbursed?
A4: It is obligatory to disburse zakah immediately, so it is not permissible to delay it from its recipients in its lawful channels, whether the delay is for the purpose of increasing it for the recipients or due to negligence in disbursement. This is because delaying the disbursement of zakah causes the immediacy of its payment to be lost, and it causes the loss of many of its benefits, such as meeting the needs of the poor, paying off the debts of the poor, and other matters for which zakah was legislated. As for the profits generated by the zakah that was delayed in being disbursed, zakah is obligatory on the profits at a rate of two and a half percent only, and
the full amount of the profits is not disbursed; because the money designated for zakah does not leave the ownership of its owner until he hands it over to its recipient or his agent. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
A4: It is obligatory to disburse zakah immediately, so it is not permissible to delay it from its recipients in its lawful channels, whether the delay is for the purpose of increasing it for the recipients or due to negligence in disbursement. This is because delaying the disbursement of zakah causes the immediacy of its payment to be lost, and it causes the loss of many of its benefits, such as meeting the needs of the poor, paying off the debts of the poor, and other matters for which zakah was legislated. As for the profits generated by the zakah that was delayed in being disbursed, zakah is obligatory on the profits at a rate of two and a half percent only, and
the full amount of the profits is not disbursed; because the money designated for zakah does not leave the ownership of its owner until he hands it over to its recipient or his agent. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.